


A WIP Frontier

by ReotheLeo



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Frontier
Genre: F/M, Multi, Slow Burn, WIP, also submitted to fanfiction, blatant self indulgent self insert is blatant, but hopefully enjoyable, but not swearing in front of innocent ears, just in thoughts lol, note; swearing thoughts, theyre both mine i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 12:27:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13318077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReotheLeo/pseuds/ReotheLeo
Summary: Note; currently a WIP which has been posted to gauge interest!Reo had been relieved to have the holidays to herself; no boarding school, no parents-- just herself and the wide world of Shibuya. She just hadn't really expected the world of Shibuya to be a Digital World.What had she gotten herself into now?





	A WIP Frontier

**Author's Note:**

> An extremely self-indulgent SI story for Digimon Frontier. The eventual pairing will be Kouji/Kouichi/SI, but that won't be for a long, long time- this WIP's a slow burn, baby! And, yeah, it's a WIP at the moment, but I figured I'd post what I've got to gauge interest for it being posted vs being another document on my computer! Let me know if you enjoyed it!

‘ _Thank goodness for the summer holidays._ ’ Reo thought as she handed the cash over to the vender in exchange for her clip on piercings. ‘ _Shame mum and dad couldn’t come and visit though_.’

 

Their absence didn’t really surprise her unfortunately. The pair had allowed her to continue her at the boarding and day school in Shibuya despite their misgivings. The guilt at having torn her away from her friends when they returned to their home country had quickly turned into guilt at leaving their oldest daughter in a less than perfect schooling system overseas and away from home.

 

Reo wished they would just accept her situation and love her anyway. She’d accepted it a long time ago, after all.

 

Still, them renting her an apartment for the holidays to give her space and time to recover was a lovely display of affection. It also let her explore her identity and her city as she pleased; all the other boarders had returned to their country homes for the summer after all.

 

It was as she was clipping her latest set of fake piercings that her national phone went off in a weird tone. The vibration’s caused her Hello Kitty charm to jingle, the bell ringing as the small pink chim fellow off the edge of the public bathroom’s sink side. A foreign image covered the screen, and a voice rang out in Japanese.

 

‘ _It is time._ ’

 

Well, she didn’t have anything better to do.

 

It took only took a short walk to reach Shibuya Station from Central Street. That meant that, after the gut-dropping elevator ride, Reo had time to rebalance herself in the train carriage before the locomotive actually departed. No one else had boarded her carriage, and the blonde found herself relaxing at having the space to herself. There was no one to judge her here.

 

As the train took off loudly, the blonde examined her reflected appearance in the dark train windows. The new piercings looked okay on her lip, but she’d have to give them a day or two before she actually decided to keep them or not. If they were an annoyance to eat with, they would get repositioned. Whether to her nose or to her ears, she wasn’t sure. In a way, she was glad she was allergic to metal- it was a lot cheaper to find out preferences with clip on’s than with actual piercings.

 

Actually, on her nose wouldn’t look so bad- her broad nose could actually-

 

Loudness blinded her senses.

 

Bright light, ear-shattering noise, and a burning heat on her sight sent the blonde reeling to her knees. Too much, too loud, too much- another loud horn shocked Reo from her shock, startling her back into reality.

 

The train had left the tunnel, and now appeared to be flying through the sky; Shibuya was nowhere in sight. Breathing slow, deep breaths as the cold boarding school psych had taught her, Reo slowly rose to her feet. There was a sky, with lots of clouds. There was the bench she had sat on, blue leather and all. There was the floor, warm foggy patches where her hands had previously been. There was a weight in her pocket- not her phone when she brought it out, but an unfamiliar device. It was a nice blue— the same blue as her jacket— with a pink handle— the same pink as her Helly Kitty charm’s dress.

 

Had been.

 

The same pink as her Hello Kitty charm’s dress had been.

 

“God damn, that was rough.” Laughing made the pain and delusions manageable. It was better to laugh than to cry, as Reo’s grandparents had always preached. As white ghosts began to fill the sky, slightly less fluffy than clouds, the blonde heaved out a sigh.

 

Today was going to be a long day, wasn’t it?

 

~.~

 

“Aw man, that was a train ride and a half.” The fifth person standing on the platform surprised the other four which had also been kicked off of the train (or was it a Trailmon?). With her tight fitting pants and bomber jacket, the blonde looked as much like a foreigner as Zoe did. “Not only do I have no idea where I am, but my phone’s gone an abandoned me too.”

 

How the girl could laugh at a time like this, Takuya had no idea. Tommy didn’t seem to understand either, as he burst into tears a moment later, terrified of the small white blobs surrounding him in a town he knew nothing about.

 

“Waaaah, I didn’t even want to be on this train!!”

 

Blinking, the blonde turned towards the group of four, seemingly only just realising their situation. Concern coloured her expression, but before she could say anymore the group’s ride abandoned them all with a rather confusing statement. Slowly the creatures crept around to circle her as well, taking the opportunity the departing Trailmon provided.

 

“Hey, I’m Reo- are you guys okay?” Reo began to walk towards the group, mindless of the creatures parting beneath her feet. Zoe and J.P. turned towards her, but Tommy paid the girl no mind, running out onto the train tracks after the disappearing Trailmon.

 

‘ _Oh shit._ ’

 

Takuya was the first to kick into action, dashing after the young boy as he crossed into unstable territory. Zoe and J.P. weren’t far behind, but Reo caught up to them green flames halted the trio in their pursuit of their friends.

 

“Oh, hey, look- it’s a cerberus.” Reo grinned, recalling her mythology trivia cards.

 

No one seemed to pay her comment any mind, too busy with the danger in front of them, so she kept the lore details to herself. Man, a real life cerberus; she began to flap her hands excitedly. It ran like a normal dog, despite the three way split at the top end of it’s spine, but only one face seemed functional. Actually, she didn’t think it would have been able to talk; but then if the train had managed to talk to them, who knew what else was literate!

 

The anticipation for a thorough interrogation quelled a bit as the hound began to chase after Takuya and Tommy, before extinguishing entirely as the pair were forced to slide down a disconnected train rail. That… was a bit of an excitement dampener. The boy of them made the jump, but the cerberus was closing in quickly, and all thoughts of questions went out of Reo’s minds as her pulse jumped in anxiety for the boys.

 

“Are they going to be okay…” Reo’s tone wavered, and she exchanged a worried glance with Zoe beside her.

 

“I hope so.” Both blonde’s shuffled uneasily, before Zoe let out a scream as the cerberus tackled Takuya into the pillar of flame.

 

~.~

 

And then things went from mythical to downright crazy as Takuya shape shifted into a monster himself.

 

~.~

 

“Hey, Bokomon, who did you say that digimon was again?”

 

The group of five— wait, where had J.P. and Tommy gone again?— were making their way over towards Bokomon’s house at a leisurely pace, the small white digimon having claimed that he would be able to help the humans find the spirits they needed to return home. While Takuya and Zoe were arguing over the pro’s and con’s of fulfilling their ‘quest’ versus just finding another Trailmon to take them all home, Reo had decided to question the knowledgable companion about her curiousities.

 

“Ah, that would be Cerberumon, my dear.”

 

“Huh, so it _is_ a cerberus.” Score one for Reo!

 

“A what now?” Bokomon turned to look up at the blonde.

 

“Wait, you knew what that was?” Zoe’s tone was disbelieving and Takuya’s incredulous.

 

“Well, not what that was, but I know what it was similar too?” Reo’s tone lilted, face scrunching up as she tried to find the words to describe the information. “In our world, in the old Greek religion, cerberus was a three-headed dog that guarded the gates to the world of the dead, and also escorted the dead to the afterlife?”

 

“Well Cerberumon is a dark type digimon— perhaps the digital world and your world have been connected before?” Bokomon pondered, turning a corner as he mulled over the new information. “It would be fascinating to see what other connections our worlds have.”

 

“Well, I mean, you guys knew we were humans before we met— if there are no humans in this world, how did you know we existed at all?” It was Zoe’s turn to rise with a question, and Takuya seemed to only just realise this fact as the girl brought it up.

 

“Hey, that’s a good question!” Takuya excaimed. “And, how can I turn into a digimon?!”

 

“All good questions, to which I have no answers.” Bokomon retorted unhelpfully. Neemon sighed at his friends response, shaking his head in dismay.

 

“Woooow, so you don’t know everything…”

 

“Of course I don’t, you idiot.” Bokomon snapped Neemon’s waistband in what looked like, rather frankly, a very painful manner. “That’s why we have to _find_ the answers. Perhaps in finding these spirits we will find some answers.”

 

That was true, Reo thought. Zoe seemed to appreciate this argument towards finishing their given quest, while Takuya frowned and continued his disagreements. Reo didn’t know why the boy was so adamant to returning home; with his temperament he seemed like the time to just charge right in without considering the consequences.

 

She supposed, with the right motivation, anyone could be made to do anything. Not that she knew what his motivation was.

 

“I’ll be sure to let you know if I spot any more similarities then, I guess.” Reo shrugged, and Bokomon voiced his appreciation in a long winded rant about the endless possibilities of the joining of worlds.

 

Honestly, Reo thought as she viewed the happily conversing bird digimon in the distance, she just hoped that the digital world remained as it was— innocent to the things the human world brought.

 

The pair of pink birds vanished from sight as the group of five arrived at their destination.

 

Seriously, where had J.P. and Tommy vanished too?

 

“You know, the Village of Flames is a really nice place now that it’s not on fire.” Reo glanced around, taking in the soft green grass surrounding Bokomon and Neemon’s home. The pair may appear to have a less than peaceful relationship, but if the pair could live together under the same roof then it clearly wasn’t all that bad.

 

“Thank you, I am quite fond of it myself.” Bokomon replied, his voice echoing slightly as it bounced off of metal walls before making it’s way out the door. Neemon was resting his head on the windowsill, watching as the three humans took in the new world around them. Even as Reo listened to Bokomon shuffling around in his home, three more of the ghost-like digimon from earlier floated past, giggling among themselves.

 

“Who’re they, Neemon?”

 

“Hmmmmm,” the yellow digimon hummed thoughtfully. “I’ve forgotten.” Reo let out a laughter, not mocking the digimon but rather relieved someone else here seemed to maintain a similar memory for names as her own. “But they’re real friendly fellows, happy to help out and play with you if you ask.”

 

“Those are Poyomon, you nitwit.” Bokomon’s book appeared suddenly over Neemon’s head, giving the ditzy digimon a soft thwack. “You see them everyday, surely you can remember their name.”

 

“Nah, I get it- he’s remembering the important stuff.” Reo grinned, watching as a fourth Poyomon joined the gang. “Whether they’re a danger or not.”

 

Takuya seemed to laugh at this comment, doubting it’s validity, while Zoe shook her head in disbelief— but she seemed to be shrinking back from the creatures less than she had been before. Had she had a bad encounter with them? Bokomon, on the other hand, regarded the girl carefully before nodding in agreement.

 

“I suppose I can credit him that much.”

 

“Da—ang right you can.” ‘ _Monitoring language, Reo.’_ The blonde thought to herself, listening as Takuya and Zoe began to ponder over J.P. and Tommy’s location. ’ _You’re not trying to intimidate these people._ ’

 

Having been on holiday mode for a month or so, it was easier to catch her slip ups than it was in the middle of semester when talking to teachers. At least the teacher’s didn’t mind her mistakes too much thanks to her grades— but Reo would never forgive herself if she swore in front of Tommy.

 

The kid was still too innocent to life. Naive in a different way than Neemon was— in a way that could easily be broken.

 

She wouldn’t do that to anyone if she could help it.

 

A loud scream echoing through the village told her that maybe she wouldn’t get the chance to risk doing so.

 

~.~

 

“Tommy!” Reo wanted to slam her face against a wall multiple times. The tip off from the Poyomon had been helpful, but now…

 

“Tommy!” Both Takuya and Zoe were acting, well, stupid and immature. One lost control, then the other, and then they both refused to take the blame for it. It made this whole thing uncomfortablefor everyone. Why people valued their pride so much, she would never understand.

 

Valuing your friends was much more important.

 

“Tommy!” Which was why she was helping them find Tommy still. J.P. had gone with him, she was certain, but where they had gone was still a mystery. Actually, where Bokomon and Neemon had gone was also a mystery. Damn, they really were loosing everyone today.

 

‘ _Maybe this world is actually a horror movie, and we’re all being picked off one by one?’_ Just as she thought that, another pair of screams echoed down the chambers— this one very clearly Tommy’s and J.P.’s.

 

“We have to help them!”

 

“I _know_ that!”

 

The trio dashed down the halls, two with fiery tempers pushing them forward. Bokomon and Neemon met them halfway, apparently having found another entrance to the underground network.

 

The group arrived just in time to see one of the Pagumon which had been attacking J.P. and Tommy (and the new kid, who appeared to have come out of nowhere) evolved into a hulking piece of slime.

 

Which smelt absolutely rank, by the way.

 

Reo squeezed her nose shut, glad she decided to clip her new piercings to her lip rather than her nose. Now was not the time to test the pain levels of blocking one’s nose with a piercing in it. Zoe also protested the stench, whining loudly as she covered her face with her hands.

 

Raremon, as Bokomon named him, continued his assault on the dodging new boy. J.P. had managed to get out of the way, crawling backwards to the entrance the other’s had appeared in. Reo scanned the room for Tommy, finally spotting the brunette in the new kid’s arm’s.

 

‘ _Fuck, that’s not safe— for either of them._ ’

 

Takuya seemed to agree with that train of thought, pressing down random buttons on his d-tector in an attempt to reignite his spirit he’d found.

 

“Hey, Takuya,” Bokomon’s voice echoed around the chamber, broken in part by the echoing of the running footsteps the evading new kid was taking. “Not to be a bother, but you might want to think about spirit evolving before your friend’s there become Raremon’s lunch.”

 

‘ _No shit, Sherlock._ ’ Reo wanted to smack the white digimon upside the head. Unless he knew how to operate the new device the kid’s found themselves in possession was, there was no way that anything he had to say at the moment could really be helpful right at this second. Did he have a manual— actually, a shut down button on Raremon would be good to know about too.

 

“Hey, Bokomon, does Raremon have any—“

 

“Got it!” Takuya’s outburst interrupted Reo’s question, and a strange symbol lit up on his d-tector’s screen. “Spirit!!!!”

 

OW!! Reo glared at the growing light form that had been Takuya. That was fucking _loud_ , Jesus. Did he have to scream right next to them?

 

Still, she couldn’t bring herself to resent him too much as he ran to the aid of the other’s stuck in the middle of the room. At least he was helping them in anyway he could.

 

~.~

 

And then he knocked the new kid down the hole in the middle of the room. And then that new kid turned into a digimon as well.

 

Fuck this was a weird reality.

 

~.~

 

‘ _Oh my god, it’s another dog digimon._ ’ Reo jumped from foot to foot as she watched the new kid-turned-digimon fight against Raremon. ‘ _It’s a puppy dog, what the fuck, I love it!_ ’

 

After returning Raremon to fractal code, the new kid —Kouji, as he introduced himself— revealed himself to be a bit of an asshole. Actually, his pride was level with Takuya and Zoe’s in a way. Man, why did people have such a thing against asking for help and admitting they were wrong? Either way, Reo concluded that he was less cool than his digimon form.

 

Then again, it was hard for anyone to be better than a dog.

 

Cats were pretty darn cool too, to be honest.

 

Man she hoped she’d never have to pick between a cat and a dog. She would probably either pick neither or both.

 

She was good at choosing not to choose.

 

Anyway! With Tommy and J.P. safe and sound, the enormous group of seven slowly made their way back to the surface, Bokomon guiding the humans (and Neemon) back through the entrance he’d come through to find the lost humans. Reo was glad that _someone_ had bothered to come through an actual entrance rather than falling through an opening in the roof.

 

Walking at the back of the group, with the thought of horror movies fresh in her mind, Reo tasked herself with keeping the straying-prone group together. Hopefully they wouldn’t give her too much of a work out though— having not eaten in a while, she didn’t think she’d be able to run much longer.

 

~.~

 

“What grade are you in, anyway?” J.P.’s pointed question to Takuya caught Reo’s attention from where she was trailing after the boys. Zoe and Tommy were talking among themselves as they lead the group, but the pair of boys in the middle seemed to be in an disagreement about something.

 

“Sixth grade, is that a problem?” Takuya huffed, crossing his arms in frustration. J.P. seemed to pause, before laughing out an exclamation.

 

“Well I’m in the seventh grade!”

 

“If we’re arguing about age then I’ve got you both beat by a school year, so get wrecked!” Reo laughed, coming up behind the pair of them and clapping them on the back. “And I suspect Bokomon could beat us all, so I hope you’re not arguing over something too important.” Both boys flushed red under her grasp, and pulled away with stuttering protests.

 

Yeah, she thought it would be something stupid like that.

 

Shrugging, Reo jogged forward until she was walking side by side with Zoe in the dusty landscape, fiddling with her piercings with her tongue. Man, she was glad she wasn’t the only girl in the group. Even now, the comments of the other boarding girls rang through her ears, but she could at least measure her standing against Zoe’s reactions.

 

A relieving state of being indeed.

 

The train tracks seemed never ending, disappearing into the horizon along with the desert land around them. Reo didn’t know how long the group had been walking— her phone could no longer keep time for her now that it was a d-tector. Which was useless in and of itself without a spirit to occupy it.

 

Man she hoped she’d get a spirit soon. Being a digimon looked pretty cool.

 

J.P. and Takuya didn’t seem to have left their previous conversation to die, though they made a note to keep their volume down after being interrupted the first time. Reo supposed she could respect their wishes and ignore them. Zoe and Tommy’s conversation wasn’t much more enlightening; in fact, it didn’t exist at all. By the time Reo had caught up with the pair, Tommy appeared to have cut the discussion off, running ahead along the train tracks.

 

Hopefully a Trailmon wouldn’t appear at full speed without warning.

 

At least they were sentient beings which could stop themselves if they saw someone on the track, she supposed.

 

“Hey, Zoe.”

 

“Hey, Reo.”

 

The silence was calming after all the action the group had seen over the past couple of hours. Trailing after Tommy, who had taken the lead, the two girls walked side by side, watching the sky shifting hues as the sun slowly set behind them. While the ground continued to pass below them, the landscape didn’t change at all. No digimon came into sight at all, and there wasn’t even a Trailmon that passed by. 

 

“Did you think you’d end up here?” The question seemed to hang in the air, floating like the first moon in the sky as Reo contemplated her answer.

 

“Not really, I think.” Frowning, the teen contemplated her emotions. “Honestly, I think I’m relieved I ended up here. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the strange message, but…” Rising her arms, Reo gestured to the deserted landscape before her. “This certainly wasn’t the worst outcome I contemplated.”

 

“Wow, I hadn’t even thought about what would happen by following the message.” Zoe blinked, stunned at her new friend’s response. “I just heard the woman say it was my destiny, and followed.” Silence rang out once more, and a second moon appeared in the dark blue sky above, as Zoe contemplated her emotions.

 

“I think… I think I expected to find answers.” The Italian finally spoke up. “Immediate answers, not this ‘chase the truth’ quest that we’ve gotten. I certainly didn’t think about the weirdness of the text—“

 

“—never mind the fact that the same message seems to have reached every kid in Japan.” Reo finished up, nodding along. “Yeah, see, I got to the train early; I had a lot of time to think before Trailmon left Shibuya.” She shuddered, remembering the few hours which seemed like days ago. “I still never expect this though.”

 

“Yeah,” Zoe trailed off in her agreement, suddenly stuck on a thought in her mind. Reo remained silent, letting the blonde decide whether or not to voice her sudden opinion. A third, pale orb rose into view— three moons.

 

They were beautiful.

 

“I guess…” Zoe finally spoke up, trailing off uneasily before she continued. “I guess, I didn’t expect to be made an outsider once more.”

 

A simple statement, but one that struck Reo to the core. She could understand that fear; she could understand that fear entirely. From the foreigner at the boarding school, to the foreigner on an entirely different planet; nowhere felt safe anymore. Zoe’s statement struck a cord, pulling at Reo until she found herself desperately wishing for the summer apartment she’d left behind. Safe, secure, and known.

 

“I get that.” If Reo’s words came out slightly wet, Zoe didn’t mention it. “I really get that.”

 

‘ _Is this what I’m meant to be? Is_ this _my destiny?_ ’

 

“Hey, girl’s, what are you talking about?” J.P.’s lilting voice broke through the deep silence, startling both of them. While Zoe let out a quick shriek in shock, Reo vaulted forward, stubbed her on thing air, and landed face down in the dirt.

 

“Dude, what the fu—reak?!”

 

“J.P., don’t scare us like that!” Both girl’s rounded on the seventh grader, Zoe with clenched fists and Reo with sweating, shaking palms. Takuya could be seen snorting on laughter behind the anxious J.P., barely keeping it together against the fear of attracting the girl’s attention.

 

“Good god, man, you terrified me!”

 

The sudden reappearance of Tommy in a close range saved J.P. from his fate of wrath, and the issue that halted the smaller boy’s progress quickly became apparent.

 

“Well, that’s a cliff and a half.” J.P. and Takuya caught up with the others at Reo’s comment. The five human’s gazed down at the abyss below as the last two digimon of their group caught up with the rest. Looking at the train tracks, the group groaned in annoyance as the path came to a clean finish at the edge of the cliff. The rails continued with a similarly clean cut at the other end of the gap in the rocks, but that wasn’t any help for the crew travelling on foot.

 

Nor would it be helpful to anyone travelling by Trailmon either, to be honest.

 

“Look’s like the only way forward is down.” Takuya declared, pointing at the thin path descending down the cliffside. J.P. groan, making his frustration clear.

 

“No way, more walking?” The taller boy fell to the ground in a dramatic movement of exasperation. “I never thought ‘destiny’ would involve so much exercise.”

 

“Quit your whining.” Zoe’s tone was completely unapologetic. “The sooner we get the spirits, the sooner we can get a rest.”

 

“Man, I hope my spirit can build a pretty good bed, ‘cause I’m _beat_.”

 

“Don’t worry, J.P.” Reo grinned, patting the drooping brunette on the head. “I’m sure if nothing else we can sleep at the other side of the ditch tonight.”

 

“How is that a good thing?” J.P. looked like he was questioning the girl’s sanity, but she continued with a wink.

 

“They say sleeping under the stars is the best rest one can have~!”

 

“Who the hell say’s that.” J.P. muttered under his breath, but there was a red tint to his cheeks as Reo removed her hand to step forward.

 

“Now, let us conquer this cliff to find our perfect spot under the stars!”

 

“Yeah!” Tommy cheered and took off running down the cliffside, with Takuya hot on his heels.

 

“ _Where_ are you _from_?” Zoe muttered under her breath incredulously, but followed her fellow blonde as she marched down the path. “ _Also_ , do you get all your energy from the moon or something?”

 

“Yup!” Oh, she hadn’t thought the girl had heard her. “I tend to have more energy at night— I don’t know, it feels safer or something!” There was a noticeable spring in Reo’s steps as she pranced down the cliffside.

 

“That’s so weird…” Zoe mumbled, but followed after the rest of the group anyway.

 

There was a flickering light at the bottom of the canyon, and the group of traveller’s quickly adjusted their descent to make for the signs of life. Hopping across one of the streams at the bottom of the ditch, J.P. frowned as he scanned for the light’s they’d seen earlier.

 

“That’s weird, I could have sworn those lights were coming from here?”

 

“Woooow, that’s pretty…” Zoe’s awe distracted them as they glanced up at the carving on the wall side. The aged mural seemed to be a two part piece. The first, a circle of kanji-like symbols, seemed simple enough in execution, but Reo couldn’t help the way her eyes dragged over the elegant portrait which formed the second half. With eight wings splayed out behind it, a cherub-like angel stared down at the weary travelling group.

 

It was a clashing of ideas in Reo’s mind— while four sets of wings in artwork often depicted an angel of archangel status, the young like appearance was more befitting of an angel lower down on the hierarchy. Perhaps it was her mother’s old readings causing the conflicting impressions, but something about the piece wrung heavy in the girl’s mind.

 

It was an image of deception.

 

How it connected to the ring of kanji-like symbols— two of which looked vaguely familiar to her eye— Reo didn’t know. But boy did she want to.

 

“Pretty— _pretty_ she says.” Bokomon huffed, and it seemed Reo wouldn’t have to wait long for some answers. “ _These_ are the marks of the Ten Legendary Warriors.”

 

“The Ten Legendary Warriors?” Oops, that was a creepy question in unison that Reo had participated in. Horror movie warning!! Especially when coupled with the creepy angel thing— she shivered as she waited for Bokomon to continue his explanation.

 

“Hmm, I’ve never heard of them.” Trust Neemon to defuse the tension; aah, Reo was growing to love the small, yellow digimon.

 

“Are you serious?” She also loved the relationship between Bokomon and Neemon; a beautiful friendship indeed. “The legend of the Ten Warriors is the first thing we learn about in Digital History.”

 

Wait, did that mean Neemon had attended digimon college with Bokomon? Man, he was much smarter than he acted in that case.

 

“I must have been sick that day, but they sure are pretty.”

 

“Pffft,” That was an audible laugh from Reo, her tension and paranoia getting the better of her as the noise snorted through her nose. Bokomon turned his scathing look in her direction, however, quickly causing her to wilt under his glare. Reo wrung her hands and fiddled with her piercings as the scholarly digimon continued his explanation. 

 

Listening to the wars between different digimon types, and the resolution from and then rise of Lucemon rung a bell in Reo’s mind, and she tuned out Bokomon explanation as she flipped through the different myths and legends she knew in her mind. It was as the links to Agunimon and Lobomon were being drawn that, finally, the name rose to her attention, ringing loud and clear.

 

“Lucifer!”

 

“What?” Bokomon snapped at her now, but next to her Zoe paled quickly. The other humans looked as confused as Bokomon was— Neemon, meanwhile, continued his placid gaze completely unbothered—, but Zoe visibly recoiled as the name connected in her mind.

 

“Lucemon is reminiscent of Lucifer.” Reo explained, gesturing to the angel on the wall; it’s horror now made sense in her mind. “He was an archangel— a figure in anglophilic culture from the Christian religion.”

 

“How do you know so many big words, and yet trip over your own feet when there’s nothing in front of you?” J.P. muttered under his breath, but was ignored by both anthropologists-in-training as they continued their discussion of lore.

 

“Lucemon is no angel anymore; I can assure you of that!” Bokomon frowned, but Reo waved the information aside with a flap of her hand.

 

“Let me continue— Lucifer _was_ an archangel, but he fell from grace and was banished to be the first person in the underworld.” She clapped her hands together, relieved all her ‘useless information’ had some purpose after all. Particular ‘useless’ interest her _ass_. “He became the king of hell- the devil, the evilest thing in existence, the punisher of bad souls, and so on and so forth.”

 

Bokomon nodded, drawing up and considering the parallels in his mind. The rest of the humans, on the other hand, were slowly draining away to Zoe’s pale colour.

 

“His only real crime was a refusal to worship his God’s latest creation over his God, and over himself.” Reo continued. “But he got locked away for it, until the time came for him to fight his fellow archangel’s once more and perish from existence, along with the planet.” She shrugged off this heavy information. “Or, so the Christian religion claims. Honestly, who knows what is real, haha!”

 

The laugh echoed around the canyon, and the blonde seemed mindless to the evil she’d just connected with the destiny of her friends and herself.

 

“That does seem to draw a lot of parallels.” Bokomon nodded, also unaware of the implications the knowledge held, scribbling now the new information in his book. “Fascinating, how two worlds can have so much in common, and yet know so little of one another.”

 

“I know, right?”

 

“You know too much, buddy.” Takuya commented, slumping forward dramatically. “What does that mean for us?”

 

“Yeah, I don’t want to fight the devil, or the king of hell, or whatever this dude is.” J.P. seemed equally discouraged by the journey he could see before him.

 

“Don’t sweat it, guys.” Reo seemed to finally catch on to the fear she’d instilled in her companions, and quickly tried to mend the damage she’d dealt. “I mean, the legends in our world say nothing of digimon, and Lucifer certainly wasn’t a— what was it?— wise and fair leader of our world at any point, so I really doubt everything the religion has to say will come true, if any of it at all.”

 

Her words slowly brought colour back to her friend’s faces, but Zoe still seemed a little uneasy. Reo scrambled around her brain, searching for a final bit of evidence to help reassure her friend.

 

“Like, Cerberumon didn’t actually guide spirits to hell, or stop the dead from coming or going, you know? He just looked the same as the legend and had a similar name— a three headed dog with ‘cerberu’ in it’s name.” This time, Reo put a hand directly on Zoe’s shoulder. “Seriously, don’t stress, okay?”

 

“Yeah, you’re right.” Zoe’s laugh was a tad weak, but she seemed to slowly straighten up under her friend’s comfort. “If Cerberumon was just a three-headed dog, then Lucemon is just a stupid, eight-winged angel.”

 

“Exactly!” Reo nodded emphatically, pulling her hand away down that her task had been achieved. “Either way, we’re all in this together— and didn’t you know that the power of friendship can beat anything?”

 

Everyone burst into laughter at that one, the sound bouncing off of the canyon walls as the mood finally lifted once more.

 

“Why have you human’s come to our village?”

 

And then plummeted to hit rock bottom again.

 

“You are not welcome here!” The swath of lights from earlier had reappeared, revealing themselves to be candle-like digimon. Candlemon, funnily enough, as Bokomon would dub them later. The flickering lights atop the villager’s heads cast an ominous lighting over the canyon, and Reo found herself scanning for potential exits. She doubted they’d be able to beat the strangers back up the path if they fled, not against the Candlemon who knew the territory, and the path the villagers were now lining was completely out of the question. The river could be a good exit, but with no knowledge of when their next rest would be, diving into a cold river in the middle of the night was a quick and sure way to freeze anyone to death— _slowly_.

 

“We’re on our way to the Forest Terminal.” Takuya stated, and Reo wondered why Bokomon left the talking to the poor, capped boy. Surely Bokomon would know the customs and ways to pass though better than, say, alien’s to the planet. “Sorry to disturb you, we’re just passing through.” Still, Takuya approached the Candlemon cautiously and respectfully— Reo couldn’t see how his words would cause offence, thankfully.

 

Maybe it was just socialising with Zoe and J.P. that brought out the hard-headed pride in him?

 

“You’re melting my heart.”

 

“Ooooooh, that’s a _no-no_.” The taunts of the Candlemon grew along with their flames, and light’s lit up behind the small group. They were surrounded; well, Reo supposed, if it came down to it, she’d have to pick between a slow or fast death.

 

Reo would be lying if her heart didn’t immediately pick the fast death.

 

She would also be lying if her second thought was that the second death would provide her new friends the highest chance of survival, and that was far more important to her than her own suffering. Watching as the negotiations quickly degraded, she concluded that her priorities never changed.

 

“Hold on, this boy here is in possession of Agunimon, one of the Ten Legendary Spirits.” Bokomon finally entered the conversation, stepping in front of the children with his arm’s spread wide; they barely covered the gap between Takuya’s legs.

 

This seemed to make the Candlemon pause and, as whispers echoed through the canyon’s depths, the three leading digimon seemed to confer among themselves for a moment before turning back to the group. Smiles adorned their faces, but their eyes were closed. The river looked awfully appealing now.

 

“Please forgive our rudeness behaviour, our dear friends.” Words began to flow, spilling and bubbling like cold lemonade on a cool day. Reo’s hands clenched into fists as they retreated to her jacket’s pockets. Their smiles were like her roommates, and their word’s similar to the warden’s concern.

 

Empty and as void as the trail tracks above.

 

The Candlemon with the matchstick lead the group further down the river, the light guiding the way to the digimon’s village centre. Takuya also seemed uneasy, and he joined Reo in bringing up the rear. The two walked side by side, keeping Tommy, Zoe, and J.P. in their sites as the traveller’s quickly found themselves flanked by Candlemon on all sides. The trail tracks disappeared behind the group, and the anxiety in Reo’s chest built as she began to trace their steps, their distance.

 

They needed those tracks to find the Forest Terminal.

 

The fire digimon had carved their homes into the caverns around them, door’s covered with waxy chains of beads. The openings in the canyon speckled the walls, carrying on higher than any path in sight.

 

There wasn’t a path in sight.

 

That would make finding the way back easier— first path when heading backwards. Reo glanced up at the moon’s quickly, frustrated to find them centred in the sky above her before returning her gaze to the younger kid’s in front of her. She’d have to trust her gut for directions then, unless something—

 

There was a landmark; an enormous candle rose from the ground, adorned with the symbols which had lain next to Lucemon’s portrait. The symbol which had rested on Agunimon’s belt faced the group directly as they approached. Perfect.

 

“Let us present you with a dance of celebration!” The village elder declared, and suddenly it appeared as though every Candlemon had a green leaf— no, clover? None of them were four-leafed, Reo noticed sadly; and then that thought seemed extraordinarily ominous.

 

Still, the dance _was_ beautiful, right up to the point where the smoke began to sting the group’s eyes. Blinking them to get rid of the watering pain turned into leaving the lid’s closed because, god, they were heavy. Suddenly her knees were buckling underneath her; face, I believe you’ve met dirt?

 

Everything seemed to blur out of reality for a bit, but then there was an arm around her waist, pulling her over the gravelly surface of the canyon’s floor.

 

Hitting the water was a waking moment and a half.

 

Reo’s eyes flicked over to where the others were struggling to the surface; Takuya was battling with the additional weight of Tommy. Couldn’t he- no, this wasn’t home, she reminded herself. These kids weren’t taught to swim from birth. Quickly, the blonde made her way over to the brunette, ignoring the chorus of complaints rising from the others.

 

“Here, let me take Tommy.” Reo offered, and Takuya seemed to battle with his reluctance and protectiveness before handing the younger kid over. Reo managed to keep the pair of them above water easier than Takuya had been, and everyone seemed to relax at the reassurance- at least until the Candlemon emerged once more.

 

“Take a breath.” Reo murmured, and waited for the deep intake to cease before she dived under and after the rest of the group. Tommy didn’t weigh the girl down at all, her stronger leg’s quickly catching the pair up with the rest of the retreating group.

 

Hopefully her piercings wouldn’t rust over. She’d have to dry them later.

 

The alcove hid the group well, and the Candlemon passed them by without an issue. Spotting a small rocky shoreline at the edge of their hideout, Reo placed Tommy on the little step; ensuring he had his balance, she shifted away to carefully tread water nearby. Best not to waste energy where you afford to do otherwise.

 

“So what’s our plan of attack, guys?”

 

“I’ll distract them.” Takuya decided, voice low as the Candlemon’s taunts echoed around the canyon’s hollow. “Then you guys make a break for it.”

 

“Some plan,” Zoe commented, eyebrows twitching into a frown.

 

“Hang on Mr. President, I don’t remember electing you as leader of this stupid club.” J.P. chimed in, and Reo kind of wanted to slap the boy around the face, maybe even with a fish for an extra dramatic effect.

 

“We don’t have time to disagree over stupid shi- stuff like this.” Reo hissed, keeping an eye on Tommy’s balance where he stood on the ledge. Zoe seemed to close her mouth from where she’d been about to agree, green eyes darkening as the situation properly dawned on her. “We’re all in this together, so unless someone has an _immediate_ and better plan, we can’t afford to argue about who came up with it.”

 

The scolding from the older girl seemed to properly quell the remaining arguments over pride, and Takuya seemed thankful at the input. Reo scanned around the environment, noticing the flickering candlelight growing as the digimon approached.

 

“We can retreat until we find a way to help— Takuya.” The capped boy snapped to attention. “Once we’re out of sight, get out of these unless we come back with something to help immediately.”

 

Now Takuya looked rebellious at being commanded, but Reo couldn’t really care less. Her priority was the survival of the entire group, even at the cost of her own life or like-ability.

 

“Hold on a minute—“

 

“Do you have a better plan?” Reo shut down his challenge immediately, and was relieved that her usually ineffective glares seemed to be working today. Maybe it was the piercings? “Unless you have a more detailed plan of attack to take them down, I don’t want you risking anything unnecessarily.”

 

“You’re not my mum.” Takuya hissed, and Reo shrugged.

 

“Frankly, _buddy_ ,” She emphasised the address heavily. “I don’t give a dang. I don’t want anyone here _dying_ , do you understand?”

 

Again, the reminder of the actual danger at hand quelled the arguments. Reo had noticed people tended to forget the gravity of the reality around them, but these guys were taking it to a whole ‘nother level.

 

Later, she’d wonder if maybe she took thing’s too seriously; maybe she was paranoid due to bias. Later, she would conclude it didn’t matter— everyone got out alive, so the sacrifice of temporary affection was worth it.

 

“Duck, they’re coming.” At Takuya’s words, Reo quickly grabbed Tommy and—ensuring he’d taken a breath— pulled him underwater beside her. The lights seemed to pass by without pass, the rushing water of the river twisting the rays in beautiful patterns until they disappeared once more.

 

“Look, just get Tommy out of here, okay?” Knowing that was at least one thing they could agree on, Reo nodded at Takuya with a sigh. They didn’t have time to argue, no matter how much she wanted to ensure everyone’s safety first.

 

Now, to get everyone out of here.

 

~.~

 

“What an idiot, jeez.” Reo hissed under her breath, watching as Takuya— sorry, Agunimon through fireball after fireball at the living candles. If it hadn’t been for the endless supply of wax they appeared to possess, it might have been a smart idea.

 

But they had an endless supply of wax.

 

“Wow, you really flip attitude’s like a switch.” J.P. commented, getting another hissed ’ _fu-freak off_ ’ in return. “I think you may actually be scarier than Zoe.”

 

“And what exactly does that mean?” Said Italian rounded on the larger boy, eyes glinting dangerously.

 

“I just don’t like seeing people I know in danger, okay.” Reo huffed defensively. Though her tone was still deep and volatile, her shoulders slowly relaxed from her hunched position. “I’d prefer to be able to help, or to not know about it all together.”

 

“Hey, I get that feeling.” J.P. sighed, empathising slightly with the frayed bundle of nerves that was Reo. “I hope I get my spirit soon; now would be great, actually.”

 

“Wouldn’t it— godda _m-ang it Takuya_!” The word’s trailed off into a hiss again as the fire-headed warrior found himself waxed into position like a statue on display.

 

And then Tommy surprised them all.

 

~.~

 

‘ _Not Tommy too…’_ ’ Sitting out on fights was going to be even harder to do now.

 

~.~

 

It had been nice of the Candlemon to offer them a place to stay overnight, along with a vegetable filled dinner and breakfast— luckily, neither were made out of sleeping clovers. The bed’s made of wax certainly felt _weird_ on their skin, but the kid’s were just glad to have a roof over their head for the night— no matter what Reo claimed about star’s being overhead when sleeping.

 

Waking up, thankfully in a different room to the boys, had been a soft reminder of the reality of the days before them for the girls. With their hair a mess, and not a brush in sight, the girl’s retorted to combing through their hair their fingers. Reo’s nest was far worse than Zoe’s, despite her shorter hair, due to the thickness and curl of _genetics_. Both girls, however, appreciated the presence of the other— someone had to act as a mirror for the back of their head.

 

Reo just wished breakfast had included coffee. Her boarding house drink of choice would be really lovely right about now.

 

The Candlemon were also nice enough to point the kids in the right direction to the Forest Terminal, as well as carrying the group up the cliffside in the morning in their magic, floaty way. How they did that, Reo didn’t know— fire magic didn’t really connect with flying magic in her mind.

 

That said, the giggling Trailmon also pointed them in the right direction, and yet here they were. Still standing here, at a split in the rails, arguing over which direction was the best way to go.

 

Both arguments were making sense to Reo; while both the Candlemon and the Trailmon had said to take the left curving track, the Forest Terminal was _supposed_ to be surrounded by, well, a forest. But at this point the argument had dissolved to a matter of pride once more, and Reo felt she’d done enough damage yesterday.

 

Takuya had been stand-offish all morning, and J.P. had been treating her like her temper could flip at any moment. Tension curled in Reo’s gut as she watched the team slowly split into two, feeling helpless once more. At least it wasn’t an outright brawl yet…

 

Wait…

 

Trailmon and Candlemon had said stay on the track, and that the way the warrior’s wanted curved left.

 

The left path lead to the trees.

 

‘ _What the fuck are we arguing about then?!_ ’ Reo buried her face in her hands, drowning out the screams whisking around her.

 

“You think you know everything!”

 

“Well I’m right!”

 

“So you wanna go right?!”

 

“No!! I’m going the way that makes sense!!” And with that, Zoe turned on her heel and stomped off down the trail tracks leading into the forest. Which were on the left. “Later!”

 

“Seeya!” Takuya matched the dramatic motion by spinning on his heel and marching down his own chosen path. Which was too the right.

 

“This is a disaster and a half.” Reo moaned, but J.P. and Tommy ignored her, the former chasing down Zoe while the latter trailed after Takuya. “Fuuuuuuuuuuck.” Ignoring the scandalised look Bokomon threw her for her language, Reo took on after Zoe. Takuya was intellegent enough (when not fired up) to make the right decisions to keep himself and, especially, Tommy safe.

 

So Reo decided to take the path that would decidedly mean less walking, thank goodness.

 

Bokomon and Neemon caught up with Reo before she caught up to Zoe, but when the five did finally regroup, J.P. slagging off Takuya was what met the teen’s ears.

 

“Do you think she’s listening?” Bokomon questioned J.P., taunting the boy slightly.

 

“Nope.” Reo and Neemon spoke in union, and the blonde high-fived her yellow companion as J.P.’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

 

“Seriously, though, J.P.” Reo turned to her new friend, a small frown forming on her face. “Putting other’s down in an attempt to make yourself better isn’t a very attractive quality. Just… something you might want to consider.”

 

The blush on his cheeks deepened, and with the huff the boy turned to continue to chase after the Italian.

 

“Well, I suppose I’m just glad he’s not trying to impress me.” Placing her hands on her hips, Reo continued at a leisurely pace, making sure the other two human’s didn’t disappear out of her sight.

 

“I think he’s glad he’s not trying to impress you too.” Neemon almost parroted her with his words, taking quick steps to keep up with the girl’s longer strides.

 

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Though her words seemed defensive, Reo’s tone was more curious than offended.

 

“While you and Zoe look the same, you’re much scarier.” Neemon seemed completely unfazed by the girl’s pout. “You’re too smart.”

 

“Heeey,” Reo laughed, and Bokomon began on a rant, declaring that ’smart’ was not the same as ‘scary’. She kind of got what Neemon meant, though. As J.P.’s senior, by culture she demanded both respect and authority. It certainly wouldn’t have produced the same barriers at home, but in Japan?

 

Yeah, she was pretty scary.

 

“Plus, your piercings are weird.”

 

“Hey!” Okay, now she was offended.

 

~.~

 

‘ _Urghhhhh, why couldn’t we have taken a trai-Trailmon._ ’ Reo groaned as the group finally made it to the station tucked away halfway up the enormous tree’s routes.

 

“This is Breezy Village.” Bokomon declared, and Reo groaned in annoyance, leaning forward until her face was pressed up against the wooden sign. The word’s ‘Breezy Village’ glared back at her tauntingly. Man, they were at a forest and everything, though.

 

“How big does a forest need to be before you can call a stop the Forest Terminal?” A snort of condescension rang across the station, followed by a snarky voice.

 

“Welcome, tourists.”

 

Kouji rose to his feet, finally lifting himself off of the bench he’d been sleeping on overnight. Been abandoned on, actually. He glared in the direction he suspected the Trailmon to have left it. It couldn’t have woken him at all?

 

“So this isn’t it, huh.”

 

“You’re right,” Bokomon’s voice sounded as disappointed as J.P. looked. “It’s not.”

 

“Sup.” Reo greeted, rising from her slumped position against the sign and giving a gentle wave. Zoe chimed in with her own greeting, seeming to light up at seeing another friendly face.

 

“Hey, Kouji, what’s up?”

 

Kouji seemed to stare at the pair of them incredulously, before leaping down onto the tracks and walking off without another word. Reo shrugged, ready to let it go, but Zoe had other ideas.

 

“Hey, where’re you going?”

 

“Where I go is my own business.” Kouji replied, not even ceasing his steps as he shot back a reply. “Thanks for asking though.”

 

‘ _I think that was sarcasm, but I really can’t tell._ ’ Reo thought, watching as the boy disappeared even as Zoe stomped her food in frustration. ‘ _He sure knows how to get on Zoe’s nerves though._ ’ That thought put a smile on her face, even as J.P. attempted to cool Zoe’s temper.

 

Man, he was either really desperate, or really had it bad.

 

Or both.

 

Bokomon seemed eager to dismiss Kouji’s presence as a thing of the past, and he began to explain the history of Breezy Village to the group of ‘tourists’.

 

“Spectacular view— of what, a dump?“ J.P. questioned, watching a sign fall to the ground right before their eyes.

 

“This place is literally falling apart.” Reo agreed. “What—“ Zeo dashed off to the left, in the directions of some stairs leading up another branch. Quickly, the rest of the group plodded after her. Just as she went dashing after the girl, Reo felt her d-tector begin buzzing in her pocket.

 

“What the-“

 

There was a spirit nearby. Up ahead, the blonde noticed J.P. was also checking his device as well; did that mean Zoe’s had gone off too? The d-tector’s hadn’t gone off when either Takuya or Kouji’s spirits appeared, nor when Tommy’s flew out past them.

 

That was weird.

 

Better not to loose Zoe then; so far all the spirits had been found alongside battles. Reo quickened her pace after the girl, pushing the rest of the group into action as well. If there was danger, then she didn’t want to loose anyone— hopefully Takuya and Tommy were okay.

 

Racing up the stairs was exhausting, but the breeze bellowing down the hallowed branch kept the sweat at bay. The sudden opening sent Reo screeching to a halt, and anxiety welled up inside as she watch Zoe balance her way out to the edge of the overhanging branches.

 

“Zoe, be carefu—“

 

“ZOE!” J.P. barrelled past, pushing Reo into the wall as he waved his arms about widely. “My d-tector is _flashing_!”

 

Really, the fact that Zoe fell off of the branch while distracted was _completely expected_. Reo really wished that she hadn’t screamed, but goodness knows that fright seized her heart no matter how expected it was. Rushing to the edge of the branch next to J.P., Reo let out a relieved sigh at the sight of Zoe sliding down branch by branch.

 

And then startled again at the group of flower digimon gathering at the bottom.

 

‘ _Fuck, Zoe, watch out_.’ She was falling right into their trap, all because J.P. was stupid and self-centred, and Reo didn’t speak loudly enough, and—

 

Oh, they were only trying to catch her. Now Reo felt stupid.

 

So everything was as usual.

 

Zoe was waving up at the group, and Bokomon let out a sigh of relief from his spot beside Reo.

 

“Oh, thank goodness, the Floramon caught her.”

 

“That could have been bad.” Neemon agreed, and Bokomon snapped his waistband for Reo.

 

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” The white digimon huffed. “Luckily, Floramon are digimon of lovely temperaments— I wonder why they’re here at Breezy Village?” That was a pretty good question; the whole place was pretty disturbingly empty.

 

Briefly a fear that the Floramon ate the rest of the digimon who visited the village crossed Reo’s mind, and she shuddered. The horror movie was still a possibility— she’d have to be on her guard.

 

“I suppose we’d better go down and thank them.” Bokomon declared, waving back to the group below before turning to return back down the stairs. Neemon glanced back, hurrying to catch up with his friend.

 

“Well, J.P., have we learned not to distract people who’re on unstable surfaces?” Reo teased, keeping her eye on the scene going on below. Zoe didn’t seem to be experiencing any issues with the Floramon, talking amicably with the group. The breeze flicked Reo’s hair, and she tucked it behind her ears, wishing she’d worn a hat; at least her jumper was a proper, thick fabric.

 

That breeze was cold, man.

 

“Shut up, I didn’t mean too.” J.P. scowled as his cheeks reddened in embarrassment, crossing his arms over his chest. Shrugging, Reo turned her back on the boy and began to chase after Bokomon. J.P. seemed startled at the dismissal. “Hey, wait up!”

 

“Hey, Bokomon,” Reo ignored the boy as she turned her attention to the more knowledgable of her new friends. “What exactly are the Floramon like?” ‘ _And why is their name so simplistic compared to, like, Cerberumon . Or even Bokomon. What does Bokomon even stand for?_ ’

 

“Floramon are friendly digimon, and can be seen across the world.” Bokomon declared, pulling his book out of his waistband to flick through it as he descended the stairs. “I believe they were the welcoming party for tourists at Breezy Village during it’s prime, along with their friends the Mushroomon.”

 

‘ _Man, speaking of simplistic names…_ ’

 

“I am really curious as to what happened here.” Reo pondered. Hopefully Bokomon’s book had some answers. “Any ideas?”

 

“No,” Bokomon drawled, flicking through the pages. “I thought the stop was still prosperous and lively as the last time we visited.”

 

No dice, then.

 

“Yeah,” Neemon chimed in. “Everyone says its so lovely, hmmmm…” Neemon seemed to be tossing something up in his mind. “Did we ever visit here?”

 

“You idiot,” Bokomon slapped his friend over the head with his novel of facts, before slipping the book back into his waistband. “It was our first excursion out of town!”

 

“Hmmm… I don’t remember.” Neemon’s reply was so _Neemon_ that Reo found herself snorting with laughter, anxiety once again getting the better of her self-control. Bokomon sent the pair of them a scathing look for their manners, and with a huff hurried his steps a bit to get away from them.

 

~.~

 

Watching the Floramon perform their sing and dance, Reo could only find relief in her that they did, in fact, only eat fruit. Zoe and J.P. looked vaguely disgusted at the mix, but Reo took another spoonful without hesitation.

 

“What’s wrong, guys?” The blonde raised an eyebrow at the pair, an action which was made a little less teasing as her spoon clinked against her lip ring. “It’s not dissimilar to the food of our world.”

 

“Yeah, but…” Zoe seemed to be grasping at how to explain her hesitance without offending their hosts. J.P., however, was the one to find the words for it first.

 

“We’ve never eaten food we’ve watched the entire preparation process for before.” Reo had to give him that; he picked his phrasing well.

 

“True, but I can describe some other meal preparations we use if you want?” A grin stretched across her face as she watched the pair scramble for an inoffensive refusal. “For example, our favourite crunchy, crispy chips we complete by slicing potatoes— something we soak in animal dung and urine to grow— and boiling all of the nutrients out of the vegetable, before soaking it in the same substance— oil— that we use to fill our transport’s engines. Then we cover it in different types finely grated rock, some of which we’ve soaked in toxic chemicals for different flavour effects, before—“

 

“Enough, enough!” J.P. protested. “You’re going to ruin chips for me!” Zoe, meanwhile, just took a pointed spoonful of her soap. The girls maintained eye contact throughout the entire action, and the grin on Reo’s face remained firmly in place.

 

Bokomon, meanwhile, looked completely disgusted.

 

“What _do_ you human’s eat?”

 

“A lot of stuff most of us know nothing about.” Reo responded, dropping the grin in favour of taking another spoonful of soup. “I have a fair few allergies running through the family, so we’re made aware of where we need to be careful with what we’re eating.” J.P. looked like he wanted to ask what kind of allergies, but remembering the tease from a moment ago, remained silent.

 

Reo began to overheat.

 

Had she overdone it again— no, Zoe seemed to respond positively, and had no problem asking about her allergies in place of J.P., so it must be fine.

 

Right?

 

‘ _Leave it be, Reo._ ’ She thought silently, before redirecting the conversation to safer territory; maybe she was just having a bad day? “Do you mind if we take a look around the rest of your village as well,” Reo turned to the Floramon. “It looked so beautiful from above, I’d love to see it all up close!”

 

“Me too!” Zoe agreed, the smile growing on her face. “You really are lucky, living here.”

 

“Of course!” The Floramon cheered, and a couple of them restarted their previous dance in joy. “It’s been so long since we’ve had visitors— oh, this is going to be absolutely wonderful!”

 

Still sounded vaguely like a horror movie, though. Still, Reo felt less on guard with a full stomach, and was content to follow the rest of the group out of the beautiful wooden home.

 

“Woow,” Zoe exclaimed as she exited the house, spreading her arms wide. “The breeze feels so good~.” Taking a considering breath in, Reo was inclined to agree- despite the Floramon populating the village, the breeze was pollen free and carried a hint of dew despite the time of day.

 

Glorious.

 

“Thanks to our special Mong tree!” A petalled hand reached up, indicating to the tree the station was carved into. “The wind filters through the Mong tree’s many branches, cooling all of Breezy Village.”

 

“Wow, this wind is like Hawaii— a vacation paradise in our world!” Zoe complimented, and while Reo had never been to Hawaii, it did remind her of the beaches back at home. Although, the air lacked the tint of salt most beachside winds possessed. “Do a lot of visitors come here?”

 

At that the Floramon looked down at their feet sadly, the petals around their neck drooping sadly as they remembered the current state of their home.

 

“Not like before; no one comes to visit our village now.” Reo took a step closer, unsure what to do to help, and Zoe’s face turned sad in response to the digimon’s pain. The digimon’s head rose as bittersweet memories began to bloom. “So many trains filled with happy travellors made stops here in the past; blooming bushes and pretty plants were spread out all over the station. Our village was a perfect park everyone wanted to see!”

 

“Well I’d say, that Mong tree still looks good.” Zoe comforted, but the Petalmon’s neck wreath still seemed to drop with despair.

 

“Thanks for your kindness, but we know this place looks like a dried out dump.”

 

‘ _Well that was harsh,_ ’ Reo thought, looking around. “I certainly wouldn’t say that.”

 

“Neither.” Zoe agreed with a shake of her head.

 

“That’s so kind of you,” another Floramon approached from behind. “But now we’re lucky if we even see one train come through here a month.”

 

“Maybe you should put in a video arcade?” J.P.’s suggestion made Reo want to slap a hand over her face; it was only the fact that he seemed to genuinely trying to help that stopped her. A video arcade would bring in a whole different type of person; how special was a video arcade in a digital world, anyway?

 

Actually, that was a good question to ask Bokomon later. Hmm…

 

“You and your friends are the first tourists we’ve had here in here in four months.” Floramon continued, and Reo did her best to hide her wince in response. Luckily, the Floramon taking a few steps forward to turn around to face them was a good enough cover that her bad acting didn’t ruin it.

 

“We salute you!” The newer Floramon declared, bowing at the waist. “We’re indebted to you for your kindness.”

 

‘ _Oh man, and we didn’t even pay for anything either._ ’ Reo thought, glancing back up to the room they’d eaten. If this was good business according to their current status, that was _horrifying_.

 

“Indebted… does that mean you’re gonna charge us?” That… was a surprisingly good question from J.P.; how were they helping out the Floramon?

 

“No, no, no!” The Floramon quickly refuted the question. “It means we thank you!”

 

“If you’ve enjoyed your stay here, spread the word that our village is fun to visit!” Word of mouth was a powerful thing, true. J.P. seemed to relax at this idea, and Zoe looked— inspired. Reo watched as the girl stepped forward, enthusiastic to help someone.

 

Even without a spirit.

 

“You bet! Your soup’s great, even if it’s different!”

 

“With your help, we just might see the return of trains, visitors, and happiness to our Breezy Village!” Reo had to admit, it was pretty inspiring to see people so dedicated to something so simple— and yet so fulfilling. It warmed her heart, and she found herself wanting to help out as well.

 

Though that was a lot of weight on their shoulders to carry if spreading the word failed.

 

“Even if we tell everyone we meet about your village, you need to do something.” Zoe commented, placing a hand on her chin thoughtfully. Green eyes scanned the ground around them, and Reo winced at the potential idea coming up. She was eager to help them, and eager not to have all the weight on her shoulders— but was she eager enough to get her hands dirty?

 

“Plant new flowers!”

 

Well, if everyone was working on it, maybe it wouldn’t be that bad?

 

“We’ve tried that,” The Floramon were suddenly frowning again, and although their expressions were _aggressive_ , Reo still found herself inching back slightly. “But we have a problem.”

 

“We’re just not strong enough to dig in this hard soil, are we?”

 

“No, and to replant takes a lot of strength.”

 

“Well I can help!” Reo rose an eyebrow at Zoe’s statement, confused. Neither of the girls were particularly strong physically, and while J.P. could _potentially_ pull a lot of weight, getting him to pull it was the problem. “I know this strong guy!”

 

“Who?”

 

“Really?” Reo echoed the Floramon’s sentiments, and Zoe sent Reo a cheeky wink, before directly the Floramon over to where J.P. stood.

 

“What are you doin’— hey, wait, come on!”

 

“You have arm’s like tree trunks— you’ll be a good digger!” The Floramon gushed over the protesting J.P., giggling among themselves. Though the brunette continued to protest, the Floramon wouldn’t hear a word of it.

 

And then Zoe sprung her plan into action.

 

“You know what impresses me, Reo?” Zoe asked, leaning back with her hands on her hips.

 

“Gee, I don’t know, Zoe. Tell me.” Both girls were smiling at this point.

 

“Guy’s who help out without being asked~.”

 

As predicted, J.P. fell for the obvious ploy hook, line, and sinker. Reo rose an eyebrow as a still boasting J.P. was dragged off by the Floramon to where they wanted their first batch of plants placed.

 

“Well, at least we don’t have to do that part.”

 

“You can say that again.” Zoe laughed, but both girls lacked malice in their tones. “Still, there’s a lot of work to be done in the other parts of the job.”

 

“Definitely.” Reo sighed, but shrugged off the issue before pushing her sleeves up to her elbows. “Now, where can we be helpful?”

 

“Over here,” Another Floramon beckoned, and as Reo and Zeo wondered over they caught sight of Bokomon and Neemon still inside the dinning room of the house. “We need to gather the seeds to sow for the new plants!”

 

“Oh, where would we get them from?”

 

What started with an innocent question ended with a long hike around the Mong tree to gather the seeds of the last remnants of the old flower bushes. The Mong tree seemed even larger than before, but Zeo seemed to enjoy the walk. A cool breeze continued to whisper through the forest and, while too light to lift Reo’s thicker hair, caused Zoe’s blonde hair to waft daintily behind her. It reminded Reo of an ad she’d seen a long time ago— something that rang out through the dormitory’s hall as the girl’s gathered for their nightly reality show.

 

The last remaining bush looked frail, fragile. It clung to the last thread of life even as the the group of four approached, and the two Floramon accompanying the humans appeared to wilt themselves at the sight of it.

 

“Don’t worry, guys.” Zoe stepped forward, a soft smile on her face. “We’ll collect some seeds and plant a new set of bushes in no time!”

 

“Just, we should make sure we leave some extra seeds on the bush.” Reo cut in, hesitant to direct the group in an area she didn’t know much about. “Unless you guy’s have a way to preserve seeds incase the new plant’s don’t take?”

 

“Good thinking, Reo.” Zoe’s praise relaxed her friend’s shoulders, the uneasy tension loosening it’s grip on Reo’s form.

 

“That’s a very good idea indeed,” the Floramon seemed to agree, though their pitch was higher than Reo seemed to remember it being. Maybe she just hadn’t heard the second Floramon talking on the way here yet? “We shall make sure to leave a good number here in case the bushes don’t take.”

 

“Let’s get started then!”

 

Floramon seemed very particular as they directed the human’s over which flowers to pluck from the bush, but Reo put it down to higher experience and knowledge in the area. Reo would be lying if she said she knew anything at all about gardening. Getting her hands dirty with icky material underneath her nails was almost worst than running her hands through course, spiky fur. It wasn’t worse than touching polystyrene, though.

 

With their hands not quite full, the group of four made their way back to Breezy Village. The walk seemed shorter this time, though perhaps that was only due to the instructions the Floramon were giving the pair of girls as they walked.

 

“The seeds will take quickly,” the Floramon recalled and their pitch and dipped again, though still higher than either Zoe or Reo’s voices. “So we must have water on hand to water them as soon as they are planted. Without the proper care they’ll wilt immediately.”

 

Plants sounded like a lot of work.

 

Also, man, J.P. looked exhausted. The brunette was red in the face, but the row of holes in the rough clay surrounding the Mang tree showed that his effort had paid off. At least he was working harder than Bokomon, who was directing Neemon where to wheel the extra dirt while standing atop the very barrow his friend was attempting to wheel.

 

“Hey, J.P.,” Reo called, carefully re-adjusting the seed filled petals in her hands. “You’ve done a good job there, mate.” She figured he deserved some reward for his work, and here it came.

 

“Wow, J.P., you really have!” Zoe’s smile seemed to brighten J.P.’s eyes as well as darken his cheeks further. “We’ll have this first batch of flowers done in no time!”

 

With that out of the way, Reo looked around for a place to put the prickly leaved plants down— they were making her hand’s itch. The Floramon seemed to pick up on her discomfort, and one of the digimon guided her over to where the new holes were spread across the ground.

 

“Here, we’ll help you plant these first few while your friend begins on the next row.” J.P.’s groan didn’t register over Reo’s relief, and she quickly knelt on the dirt below. There was a passing thought of ‘ew, now my black pants are going to be ruined’ but that was quickly drowned out as well by the ‘no more prickly’ relief.

 

Time to get to the real dirty work!

 

~.~

 

The sun seemed to have reached it’s peak for the day, hot rays threatening to burn the back of the gardener’s necks, when the restoration project took a turn for the worse.

 

Three mushroom shaped digimon, cackling and chortling among themselves, appeared over the tired group. Reo jumped at the sudden appeared, startled as she stumbled to her feet and took a couple of steps back. Their mushroom shaped heads helped form a particularly malicious expression on their face as they mocked the workers below.

 

“Nice try, bye bye!”

 

Bombed rained down from the sky, and Reo dashed behind a particularly large root, hands over her head. When the explosions died down, and the smoke came to pass, Reo noticed a presence surrounding her. She was about to flinch back when a flash of familiar colours caught her eyes. Both Bokomon and Neemon had followed her to her hiding spot; both of them curling up into either side of her form.

 

“We are,”

 

“The Mushroomon,”

 

“Brothers, yeah!”

 

Danger still coloured Reo’s senses as the voices rang through the clearing, and she peeked out from behind the root as the digimon— Mushroomon, as it were— landed on the trees in front of the Floramon. Beside her, Bokomon and Neemon had also emerged, glancing up at the new threat carefully.

 

“We thought you understood!” The first brother declared, and Reo certainly did now. This had been why the Floramon were uneasy about doing work themselves. It was the same reason she didn’t join any clubs at school now, and only helped out with the mandatory chores.

 

“Planting trees and flowers,“

 

“Is a big waste of time!”

 

It was always a waste of energy when someone was just waiting to ruin your work. Why had the Floramon let them try? Reo felt depressed; to hold enough hope that you’d risk other’s time and energy?

 

How hopeless.

 

“Please don’t wreck all our plants!” The Floramon pleaded, and the tone was so familiar, like the sight of an old dog you’d said goodbye to many years ago. Reo wanted to cry, as she slowly rose to her feet, only to duck down again as the bullies threw more grenades down at the party below.

 

A yellow powder covered the field, and Reo pulled her legs closer to her body as the roots provided a small amount of covered from the golden shower. Bokomon and Neemon had retreated once again to her side. Was it in her hair— it was probably in her hair, why couldn’t she have been shorter. Reo resisted the urge to shake her head like a dog ridding itself of water, the instinct growing stronger as hysterical giggles began to chorus around her. All of her senses were being assulted.

 

“What’s so funny…?” Zoe seemed unaffected, and Reo relaxed slightly— maybe it didn’t effect humans? The girl still sounded as uneasy as Reo felt, however. “They’re trouble!”

 

“If you were a Floramon, you’d be laughing too!” The lead Mushroomon declared. “Our giggle grenades keep them in a good mood.”

 

Phew, so it didn’t effect Bokomon or Neemon either. Slowly rising to her feet, Reo dusted herself off, hands still shaking from the stress. Bokomon seemed reluctant to wonder away from his friends too far, walking forward until he was halfway between Reo and where J.P. and Zoe stood. Neemon stayed by Reo’s feet, however.

 

“Neemon,” Reo was still shaking, and her voice was little more than a timid whisper. Fuck, why was she such a coward. “Can I hold you and pet you?”

 

“Sure.” The yellow digimon seemed completely unfazed by both the request and the chaos happening around him; Reo had to wonder if he hadn’t just stayed by her side out of sheer lackadaisicalness. “I like pats.” Neemon was lighter than he looked, but still heavier than her teddybear she’d left back in her apartment. The digimon’s solid weight, however, was still as grounding as she needed, and slowly the shaking receded.

 

“— were always more popular with the tourists; they all like you better!” the Mushroomon seemed to be going into an exposition as to why they were attacking the Floramon when Reo turned her attention back to them.

 

”No matter how much we tried to please those newcomers, they always thought Floramon were cuter than us spore guys.” Reo could understand that pain completely, but that didn’t make attacking other people right. It was never right to hurt others because you yourself were hurt.

 

A circle of pain still ended with _everyone_ in pain.

 

“But that’s not true.” Anything said in the mist of hysterical giggles always sounded rather insincere, to be honest. “They liked you guys too!”

 

“And your mushroom mousse was so popular with the tourists!” Another Floramon added, and thankfully the giggle bomb attack appeared to be cooling off in intensity. “They liked it better than our soup.” Reo would prefer mousse to soup any day, but mushroom mousse didn’t really sound that appealing if she was honest. Then again, who was to know with digimon taste buds?

 

These statements, truthful or otherwise, did little to appease the jaded digimon, and bombs began to fly once more— the explosive kind, this time. Reo retreated to join the group, listening as the Mushroomon continued to threaten the continuation of Breezy Village.

 

“You know, Neemon, I’m not a genius,” stated Bokomon, gazing up at his friend. “But I think those Mushroomon brothers have had their attitudes adjusted for the worse by Cherubimon’s evil magic!”

 

“You don’t need magic to be mean, Bokomon.” Reo retorted. “But I suppose it’s never wrong to hope for an outside influence when a friend changes.”

 

“Whose Cherubimon?” Neemon asked, and then it clicked in Reo’s brain.

 

‘ _Oh my god, Cherub— Cherubimon is a Cherub._ ’ She wanted to slap herself. ‘ _What is this world, the bible?_ ’

 

“Urgh, how can someone like Cherubimon ever slip your mind!?” Bokomon was about to go into rant mode, even as he snapped Neemon’s pants against his foot, being unable to reach his friend’s waistband from Reo’s arms.

 

“He’s the bad guy,” Reo cut in. “The one who stole away the spirits and turned digimon more aggressive.”

 

“Oooooh,” Neemon hummed. “She’s starting a parade.”

 

And, indeed, Zoe was stalking out towards the Mushroomon, her hands clamped into tight fists by her side.

 

“Hold it!” The declaration rang out loud and clear, and Reo shivered. Zoe could be scary when mad; though the Mushroomon didn’t seem to be intimidated in the least.

 

“You just stand aside, girly!” The leading brother declared, and received a slap across the face for his dismissal.

 

“Hey now, that’s my brother, why’d you slap him?”

 

‘ _Why are_ you _picking on these Floramon?_ ’ Reo huffed back in her mind, placing Neemon down at her feet. ‘ _You’re bombs are far more dangerous than a simple slap across the face; I can assure you of that!_ ’

 

“You need to learn how to get along!” Zoe presented, tone harsh with exasperation. “Just because you feel like you’re getting the short end of the stick, that _doesn’t_ give you the right to just go around destroying things!” Her words were short and to the point, almost as if it had been a lesson driven into her as opposed to something that had come naturally to the girl. Reo felt a little bit of bittersweet pride; what had Zoe gone through before to learn that so young? It had taken leaving her friends behind the first time to teach Reo that herself— a pain one never forgot.

 

She’d been in tears, after being dragged away from her best friends and carted off to the other side of her home continent. A temper tantrum, several sets of tears, and heavy scolding later, and Reo learned that others were suffering in different ways from the same issues; that there were different ways to deal with pain, without hurting anyone else anymore.

 

“Try solving things peacefully!”

 

The Mushroomon brothers looked like they were contemplating Zoe’s words, as if the sharp slap of reality had finally gotten through to them, when J.P. decided to put his own two cents forward.

 

“Yeah, now listen up.” J.P. declared, crossing his arms over his chest. “You toadstool heads can’t just go barging in here with your purple mushroom caps ‘cause their just plain ugly, right?”

 

This time Reo did slam a palm up against her face, as the entire situation took a turn for the worse.

 

~.~

 

Now Zoe could spirit evolved too; it was just J.P. and Reo left.

 

Reo hoped she got hers soon…

 

Kouji worked well with the rest of the group, though.

 

~.~

 

“Nice job.” Reo spoke before J.P. could put his foot in his mouth once again. Kouji looked exhausted, and not up for dealing with older boy’s shit. Spirit evolving must be a lot more exhausting than it seemed…

 

A press of a button, and the world around them changed. Breezy Village was lush and beautiful once more.

 

“Man, we didn’t even need to do all that gardening.” Reo laughed, and J.P. slumped over as he remembered the previous effort he’d put into the gardens around them. “Look, the code even put all the leaves back on the trees and everything.”

 

“They’re all pretty happy, thanks to you.” Zoe indicated to the forest digimon gathered underneath the Mong tree’s new foliage. Turning to Kouji, she offered and hand to pull him to his feet, which— true to as the group had come to know him— he ignored. Reo grinned, but kept her laughter to herself— she had a feeling neither party would appreciate it. Zoe frowned, and went to open her mouth, but Reo cut her off quickly.

 

“See ya ‘round, Kouji!” The blonde waved the the retreating boy’s back. Kouji seemed to hesitate for a split second, before cooly waving a hand back in response. Score one for Reo~! Zoe seemed to shake her head at this, confused.

 

“I don’t get him,” She said once he was out of earshot. “Why do I try to like a guy that acts like that?” Turning to Reo, she repeated the question. “Why do you like a guy that acts like that?”

 

“I dunno, man.” Reo shrugged, sinking her hands into her pockets. “I mean, I kind of get where he’s coming from, and there’s no use trying to chide him into joining us before he’s ready, you know?”

 

“No?” Zoe still looked utterly confused, but J.P. seemed to be nodding along in agreement. Whether that was because he actually knew what Reo was getting at, or he just didn’t like Kouji, was anyone’s guess.

 

“It’ll only cause more friction, ‘cause no one works well in a situation they’re forced into. If you’re reluctant or have a negative view of the task or task-mates, the task will be a chore, and your work will be worthless.” Reo explained, struggling to find different words to explain the issue. “You and J.P. and Takuya already grind gears often enough, you know?” Both mentioned parties made a noise of protest, but the older girl continued. “Try putting someone who can’t see your worth into the mix as well, and it’s a recipe of disaster.”

 

“We have to prove our survival worth to him before he’ll join us and produce good results.” Reo finished with a shrug, and now J.P. looked confused, and Zoe concerned.

 

“That’s an awfully strict way to view the world.” Reo shrugged again at the statement, looking away and flicking her piercing with her tongue.

 

“True, but you have to wonder what upbringing he had to cause such a view.” Blue eyes met the rest of the group with a wide grin. “We’re still all awfully malleable, after all.”

 

“Bokomon, what does malleable mean?” Neemon’s question caused Reo to break into laughter, easily breaking the trance she’d caught her friends in.

 

“It’s, like, mouldable, Neemon.” Reo explained before Bokomon could explain. “Easy to change and reshape, redefine.”

 

“You guys think weirdly, that’s all I got from that!” J.P. concluded with a loud huff of frustration. Zoe seemed to have understood what Reo meant more, but she nodded along with his conclusion anyway. Reo laughed some more.

 

“Super weirdly, urgh.”

 

“WE HAVE RETURNED!” Takuya’s voice rang over the hillside, and the last pair of the warriors mix-and-match group appeared, dashing toward where Zoe and Reo stood.

 

“You blew it,” Zoe scolded. “Where were you two?”

 

“A good question— how did your trip down the right track go?” Reo’s eyes glinted as she tested the waters to see if they’d noticed their initial mistake.

 

“Aha, that’s quite a story.” Takuya laughed sheepishly. Reo immediately regretted her teasing as Tommy caught up with them; he looked absolutely exhausted, the poor thing. “After a while we thought you might need us, sooo we decided to check back in.”

 

“ _No_ ,” Zoe insisted with a prideful smirk. “You made a wrong turn and missed a once in a lifetime show!” Reo wanted to smack her— she could boast after they’d all found a place to sit down, and maybe some water.

 

“Yeah right,” Takuya looked awfully unconcerned for someone who’d been so worried about Tommy just yesterday. “Don’t try to psych us out, Zoe. You know we didn’t miss a thing!”

 

“Well you didn’t get to see me spirit evolve!” Zoe’s tone lilted, though still smug as a frog in a pond.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Wait, you did wha-“ Takuya cut himself off, before laughing and waving a hand. “Yeah right,”

 

“Like you _could_.” Okay, Reo wasn’t concerned for Tommy anymore.

 

“Why couldn’t she?” Keeping her tone level, Reo challenged the pair of other warriors with solid eye contact and a raised eyebrow. The pair seemed to hesitate, their laughter cutting off as their minds flickered back to the over-aggressive Reo from last night.

 

“I’ve had it with you guys— you run off, and then you don’t think a girl like me could spirit evolve—“

 

“Zoe, wait,” Reo commanded, and even J.P. seemed to be shrinking back slowly, despite not being the source of the elder’s ire. “I want to hear from their own mouths why they think you wouldn’t be able to spirit evolve.”

 

“Well, er,” Takuya stammered, looking anywhere but Reo’s solid gaze.

 

“There’s ten spirits of warriors out there, if _everyone_ we’ve met _this entire time_ has been telling the truth.” Reo’s grin was growing, as her brief flash of courage filled her. “There could literally be four other people we haven’t even _met yet_ that could spirit evolve. We know Zoe has a d-tector, we know you need a d-tector to digivolve, and we know that there are spirits to _spare_ — why exactly is it so unbelievable that Zoe got her spirit and digivolved while you were gone?”

 

“Because she’s a girl,” Younger and more likely to fall into a trap, Tommy took the bait. Takuya winced on his behalf as Reo called Bokomon over with a bellow.

 

The wait for the small, white digimon to waddle over was done in tense, heavy, thick silence.

 

“Bokomon, were any of the Ten Legendary Warriors female?” Reo asked, her tone calmer and less harsh after the pause took away some of her steam.

 

“Well, of course!” Bokomon didn’t even bother to pull his book out of his waistband. Tommy seemed to wilt at the immediate assurance. “AncientKazemon, as you know, and AncientMermaidmon were both digimon that identified as females. Quite powerful digimon, too, once persuaded to fight for a cause.”

 

“Thank you, Bokomon.” A soft smile, confidence now entirely gone, Reo looked down at her little white companion. “That was very helpful.”

 

“See!” Zoe took the wind for her, stamping her foot with the fire Reo had lit for her. “What a show to miss, right?”

 

Ignoring Takuya’s stuttering, pride-filled version of appeasement, Reo turned back to face Breezy Village. Should they stay here for the night, or risk travelling further down the line and hoping they find somewhere else to sleep for the night? With food?

 

“Bokomon,” Reo asked, ignoring her bickering companions. “Do you think we’ve overstayed our welcome?”

 

“What do you mean?” Bokomon looked confused for once. Neemon was making his way over to the rest of his travelling group, a sleepy smile adorning his face. 

 

“Well, we’re going to need somewhere to stay overnight.” Reo said. She pointed to the sun in the sky, which was slowly disappearing behind the Mong tree as the night approached. “As well as something to eat, at least in the morning.” Her hand fell to her side and Reo sighed. “But we can’t pay them, and we’ve imposed so much already.”

 

“I don’t think they’ll mind us staying overnight,” Bokomon seemed to understand her worries, though he seemed to find the worry irrational and weird. Reo felt like turning back time and not saying anything at all. “Between the return of the fractal code, the reuniting of the fighting parties, and the promise to spread the word of Breezy Village, I believe they should be comfortable hosting us for a little longer.”

 

“That’s true.” Reo felt stupid for asking, but the relief at having a secure place for the others to stay for the night was worth the embarrassment. They would have to leave early in the morning, though, if they wanted to get to the Forest Terminal as soon as possible. Writing a whole afternoon off for secure lodgings and meal was worth it, but something that needed to be compensated as well. “We’ll have to leave early.”

 

“Hmm, I suppose so.” Bokomon seemed unbothered, but began to wonder off in the direction of the village. “I shall talk to the Floramon about where we can stay tonight.”

 

Reo let out a sigh, tugging at her piercings once more. Another day, another spirit.

 

Hopefully she’d be able to help them out soon.

 

~.~

 

 

 

~.~

 

“Arrrgh, I can’t just sit here and watch you guy’s lead yourselves to your deaths!” J.P. roared in frustration before stomping out of the room, leaving Reo behind sitting in the corner with a snoozing Neemon and anxious Bokomon. Their other three companion’s watched as J.P. left the scene, his frustration mirrored on their faces. The clashing of wills left few with a peaceful mind.

 

Reo’s heart went out in empathy to him.

 

“Have fun out there!” Reo called out behind the dashing boy. Bokomon, sputtering with unspoken critiques, hurried over to the door as the podgy figure disappeared into the dusty distance. “Don’t get yourself killed! Hey, Neemon,” She patted her lap carefully as the taller companion snapped to attention at his name. “Come over here and let me pet you again.”

 

If running from the danger was what he felt he had to do, Reo wasn’t about to stop him. Being spiritless was _hard_ ; sending your friends out to fight for you, while sitting there, useless as a piece of flint…

 

Yeah, she got it.

 

With an air of rough determination, the three spirit warriors of the group turned back to the plan at hand; they would do this, to prove J.P. wrong and to save the Kokumon from their injustice.

 

“How are you so calm about this?” With his irrational target out of hearing range, Bokomon rounded on the last peaceful human in the room. Reo laughed, running her hands through Neemon’s long, floppy ears.

 

“What, the letting J.P. run free to his heart’s content, or being left behind?”

 

“Both! Either!” The shriek was, honestly, hilarious. Reo managed to hold back her laughter, instead cracking a grin as Neemon pushed his head further into her palm.

 

“Well, he’s mad about not having his spirit, right? It makes him feel useless— heck, it makes me feel useless.” A noise of impatient agreement, and the teen continued. “Well, how else is he going to find his spirit— his being— unless he follows what he feels to be right, you know?”

 

‘ _Plus_ ,’ she thought, ‘ _if his spirit is something he can find by running away, that would be a great aid to the team when they’re overpowered._ ’ Reo was confident in what she’d said, and hopeful for the things she hadn’t.

 

Stunned silence met Reo’s statement, and a small group of young Kokuwamon could be heard running pass outside. Even her other three friends had turned to face her, considering her words. Finally, with a mighty sigh, Bokumon plopped down on the ground next to the young girl.

 

“I suppose you’re right there.” The ‘ _though I don’t like it_ ’ went unsaid. “How did you come to be so mature at so young? I almost came to believe that all young humans were as impulsive and irrational as the other four.” Indigent protests rang through the room, along with the elder Kokumon cackling away from his soft bench in the corner.

 

“Well, _buddy_ ,” The trademark name was dipped in pitch, mimicking Takuya’s voice as sarcastically as a pubescent female’s range could. “When you’ve spent the last three or so years in an abusive home environment, you learn to grow up pretty darn fast.”

 

If the silence had been heavy before, it weighed a tonne now. Blinking, Reo turned to see everyone in the room staring at her wide eyed.

 

“That was a joke, guys, geez.” With a low laugh, the blonde waved off the concerned gazes. “Seriously, you should see your faces right now.”

 

Shaking his head and muttering under his breath about ‘ _children_ ’, Bokumon pulled his book back out and began to flip through the pages, and Takuya poked his tongue out at the girl for making fun of them before the warriors turned back to their plan of attack. Neemon and the elder Kokumon, however, kept their honest gaze on the blonde as she turned to the side and let her expression relax.

 

Reo didn’t seem like she was lying in anything she’d said; she was joking after all. With a smile, Neemon let himself enjoy the petting a bit more. Elder Kokumon, however, let out a sigh of sadness before closing his eyes once more.

 

Passively taking pain was also a method of attack, after all.

 

~.~

 

“It’s you!” At Takuya’s exclamation, Reo watched as the rest of her companions piled dangerously atop their capped friend to peek inside the sideways house. Well, that was one was to risk death by overbalance. Reo, meanwhile, was content to wait until she got inside to see who ‘you’ was; although it turned out she didn’t have wait that long as all the others spoke in unison.

 

“Kouji?”

 

Apparently their other spirit warrior had ended up with the gang once more; it was probably an inevitable outcome that they’d all form a team. The ten legendary warriors were a _team_ in the story after all.

 

Slowly the others seemed to remember that, hey, they needed to be _in_ the house, not on it, and the large group of tweens made their way into the KaratsukiNumemon’s home. Being at the bottom of the group, Reo was content to take in the sights as she waited for everyone else to slowly climb into the building.

 

It was really high up here.

 

Somehow not as terrifying as the depths of the oceans. When she’d been younger, she’d listened to the little Nipper’s beach education program explain the dangers of the water— from tides and rips, to sharks and rays. The more she listened, the smaller her fear of heights grew. Even now, staring down at the clouds drifting below, Reo felt like laughing at her companion’s anxiety. At least a fall from this height would kill you quickly— the impact along would break your spine and shatter your skull. In the ocean, no death was that painless. You struggled until the end.

 

“You coming, Reo?”

 

Startled from her thoughts, Reo offered a soft smile up at Tommy’s questioning gaze. Zoe had finally made it over the edge of the window, with her dignity in tack if the lack of screams was any indication.

 

“On my way, Tommy, don’t stress!”

 

Seemingly comforted by the expression on the older girl’s face, the brunette retreated back into the household, one hand holding his hat in place.

 

~.~

 

Catching Kouji peeking around at the larger group of traveller’s, Reo gave the boy a small wave and smile before returning to her meal. He quickly looked away, glaring down at the food in his hands. Eating with a piercing was a different feeling, Reo concluded, but not one she objected too necessarily. She’d have to try more solid food before she reached a conclusion, however.

 

Kouji didn’t like these idiots. From the hotheaded cap head— he still owed that kid a favour, according to what his sensei always preached— to the air headed blonde girls that tailed after them. This wasn’t a place for any of them; were they really so dull minded that they couldn’t see this?

 

The more placid of the blonde’s sent him a smile and a wave when she caught him watching them, and the embarrassment of being caught glaring snapped his eyes back to the food in front of him. How old was she, to have a pierced lip as well as pierced ears already? He would have hoped some one that old would have talked some sense into the brats she accompanied, but apparently not.

 

Idiot.

 

Still, he appreciated that she wasn’t attempting to bring him into the conversation, not slagging him offwith ‘offhand’ comments like the rest of her group were doing. She possessed at least some level of common sense then.

 

~.~

 

Eating lettuce with the piercings presented no issues, and Reo felt herself brighten up at the fact. Hell yeah, success number one for the new accessories! Plus, it tasted like salted, barbecued zucchini— the only way to eat zucchini. To be honest, though, with the way meals were flowing at the moment, Reo would eat zucchini in any state. Fuck, cover it in poison, and she’d probably still eat it; again, quick death over slow starvation.

 

Her teammates seemed unaware of Reo’s darker thoughts, as the light conversation continued between them.

 

~.~

 

‘ _Man, I feel so useless.’_ Loitering on the edge of the cliff with Bokomon and Neemon, Reo glanced down at her pink sneakers in frustration. As team battled off against Grumblemon, the last human of the group pulled the smaller digimon close to her chest, protectively shielding them from the crumbling world around them. Another straight fire tornado, and Reo tugged her two companion’s too the left, narrowly dodging another falling boulder.

 

‘ _Fuck, where’s my spirit, seriously.’_ The d-tector weighed heavy in her pocket, reminding her off her failed existence. ‘ _Even this damned digimon has a spirit —hell, he has two!—, but here I am, as useless as those stupid Numemon.’_

 

As soon as the combat disappeared, she knew her resentment and self-hatred would disappear too— too busy aiding the team emotionally where she could to worry about her own state of being. She would forget her own feelings and identity for the cause of otheres once more. But here, with the world crumbling around here, and her newfound friends fighting in her place, she couldn’t be distracted from the bitter taste stinging on her tongue.

 

She had always operated like this.

 

And when the floor fell out from underneath her, it was only relief that filtered into her mind. Finally, they were all useless once more. Equal in their state of being.

 

Maybe she could help them now.

 

~.~

 

Barrelling down a tunnel had not been on her outcome list when the floor collapsed underneath her, but Reo couldn’t bring herself to complain. Serious carpet burn on her backside or not, at least it was survivable even for Tommy— the frailest of the group. Zoe, J.P., Bokomon, and Neemon appeared to have vanished from sight, and Reo prayed that they had also found a tunnel to slow their descent.

 

~.~

 

“I gotta a question.” Takuya’s voice didn’t manage to reach Reo’s ears over J.P.’s protests about raw meat apples (Where they poisonous raw? If they’re an apple, and they’re also meat, what properties overruled the others?). Kouji finished placing the lit twig in the middle of the fire he’d prepared before turning his attention towards Takuya.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“All five of us kids, aside from Reo, now have the spirits of the Legendary Warriors, right?”

 

“Uh huh.” Kouji nodded, letting his eyes drift over to where the apples were slowly piling up. Takuya seemed to be taking the challenges before them seriously. There _was_ still one spiritless kid, but at least she seemed logical enough that she could keep herself and the two smaller digimon companion’s out of trouble during a fight.

 

“So tell me, how come even when we combined our forces we _still_ couldn’t beat that stupid Grumblemon?”

 

It was a good question, and Kouji didn’t like the problems it presented. Were they all not strong enough; the battle had gone badly enough that he doubted even an extra fighter like Reo could have changed the outcome. Watching as the blonde waved a speared apple in front of J.P.’s face, taunting him with the ‘poison’ he’d already taken a bite out of of, he found himself frustrated at the lack of answers.

 

Shifting his eyes to the side, he caught sight of the white digimon— Bokomon, he believed— writing some fresh notes down in his book. It was probably a new discovery about meat apples Reo had prompted him into discovering, if the tales of overly complicated talks the others had complained about was anything to go by.

 

Maybe the book had some answers in it; if only they knew what to look for…

 

Recalling the fight, Kouji pondered over the lost battle.

 

“At one point we seemed to have the upper hand,” Kouji frowned down at the growing fire before him. “But then… he spirit-evolved into that crazy Gigasmon.”

 

“But he called it beast spirit.” Takuya agreed, and the fire was blazing properly now, the light filling up the clearing as the darkness drowned the forest around them. “Just what does that mean— any clue?”

 

~.~

 

Okay, eating apples— especially cooked apples— with lip piercings was a lot harder.

 

“Fu-fudge this!” With a cry, Reo clamped her apple skewer upright between her calf and thigh. The group turned to look at her as she huffed in frustration, before reaching up to unclip her new (actually, they were probably old by now— how many days had it been again?) piercings.

 

“EH?!”

 

“Huh?” Reo jumped at the sudden shock, only to find it was her they were gasping at. “What?”

 

“Your piercings- won’t they close over?” Zoe seemed to be fluttering as she babbled on. “I heard my mum saying she couldn’t take her earrings out for too long, because they’d close over, are you okay too-“

 

“Oh, these aren’t piercing-piercings.” The shocked gasp circled around the group once more, but Reo shrugged it off as she clipped her pocket shut, piercing safely inside. “I’m allergic to studs, so I get clip ones.” As if to prove her point, she unclipped one of the hoops on her ears as well. “See?”

 

“What do you mean you’re allergic to studs?” Takuya seemed utterly lost, as did Kouji and Tommy. J.P. and Zoe, on the other hand, looked like they understand what she meant.

 

“Stud’s are piercings that you actually have to push through your skin— the typical piercing.” Zoe explained, tapping her finger against her chin in consideration. “I had a friend in Italy who got them done once, but she was allergic to them too. It was _real_ messy. She could wear solid gold though!”

 

“Yeah, it gets like that.” Reo nodded in agreement, clipping the blue hoop back into place. “Some people are only allergic to certain types of metal which they use in alloys— metals made of several different metals melted together to make things cheaper— and can get away with solid gold or silver.”

 

The girl was forced to pause as she took an unhindered bite of her meat apple, and Tommy took the opportunity to pipe up.

 

“Then why don’t you have gold piercings?”

 

“I’m lucky, I guess.” Reo shrugged again, but winked as she continued. “I’m just allergic to _everything_ ~!”

 

“Doesn’t sound that lucky to me.” Kouji was immediately scolded for his comment, but Reo just laughed it off with a nod.

 

“It doesn’t, but clip on’s are cheaper than any other type of piercing— not to mention you can wear them wherever you want without having to go to a piercing salon to get a new place pierced, and a new set of ‘rings.”

 

“Wow, that does sound lucky!” J.P. seemed to find this fascinating; the reason was quickly revealed. “Maybe I can buy some of my own— chicks dig piercings, right?” A groan of annoyance rang around the clearing, but the group was quickly distracted as the trees began lighting up around them.

 

This was new.

 

~.~

 

“Oh, hey, look- it’s my school!” It must only be showing Japan, Reo concluded as she watched the images on the bark flicker as if battling against TV static. Still, the tree’s managed to display something she didn’t want to see despite their limitations. She frowned, watching the cleaners scrubbing down the bedroom blackboards. That was the room she’d shared with Miyako- a real piece of work that one.

 

She kind of wished she could see her parents, though. They had been due for a video call soon, but she doubted they’d worry too much. Reo was prone to forgetting them during the holidays, and putting them off during the schooling terms. Still, it left her hurting a little, imagining her parents waiting for her to call.

 

Yeah, that hurt.

 

In a way, Reo was glad that Tommy burst out crying once more. It made hiding her own tears easier.

 

~.~

 

‘ _Everyone seems so peaceful._ ’ Reo felt content, watching the warrior’s snooze happily under Bakumon’s soothing dream mist. Kouji was also still awake at the other edge of the clearing, and she wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t wholly trust her group or Bakumon.

 

She still didn’t trust Bakumon.

 

He’d cause them such pain before, and though everyone else seemed content to let the past be the past, she… couldn’t. If someone hurt you once, they could do it again and, now they knew how. But, perhaps it was her who was unable to let the past go; would she need to?

 

No, knowing when not to believe in someone had gotten her this far with minimal pain; it wouldn’t betray her now. Reo fought down a snort of amusement at that— what if her belief backstabbed her. Then she really would have to abandon it, _by following it_. Man, life was a doozy when it gave irony like that; or she could follow it, by abandoning it.

 

There is alway a second option; another one of her beliefs.

 

The high-pitched squealing of a d-tector startled the blonde from her thoughts; she jumped to her feet at the sound, instantly defensive. Kouji also seemed shocked at it, pulling the beeping device out of his pocket to examine it. The woman from earlier must have said something rude by the looks of it, as he instantly jumped to his feet, snapping a defensive “ _what!_ ” at the offending device.

 

Reo heaved a sigh, letting her gaze drift back to her snoozing friends— Bokomon and Neemon had also been woken up by the looks of it— before looking back at Kouji.

 

He was staring right at her, glaring once again.

 

Testing to see what she’d do.

 

Rolling her eyes pointed, Reo made a ‘go on then’ gesture with her hands.

 

“You go where you gotta, I’ll let them know in the morning. If the lady on the d-tector’s wants us to stick as a group, she’ll tell us where to find you then.”

 

The tension seemed to drain out of Kouji’s shoulders, and an expression not dissimilar to relief flashed across his face for the briefest of moments before it disappeared entirely. An understanding (and thankful) nod later, and the boy turned on his heels, leaving the clearing.

 

Once the warrior of light was out of earshot, Bokomon and Neemon sat up properly.

 

“Why did you do that—“

 

“Go with him.” Reo interrupted Bokomon, shushing the ranting digimon before he could wake the others. “He’s a surviver, but this is a land you know better than all of us— plus his pride will get in his way of asking for help.”

 

Neemon looked like he wanted to ask something, but Bokomon slapped a hand over his mouth, still looking directly at Reo. Said girl sent her friends a wink.

 

“Plus, I know you want to see this beast spirit before anyone else~!”

 

With an indignant huff (but a thankful nod), Bokomon left, tugging Neemon along with him by the waistband. Sighing, Reo turned back to Bakumon, watching as the pink mist floated over her teammates heads.

 

Yep, she definitely wasn’t getting any sleep tonight.

 

 

 

 _Movement_.

 

Reo’s eyes snapped open, as Zoe rolled over in her sleep once more, reaching out until her hand almost brushed up against Tommy’s enormous hat. Bakumon smiled softly as the blonde’s head jerked up from where her chin had rested against her sternum. The sky was lighter than it had been ten seconds ago.

 

Blue eyes narrowed as the sleep digimon.

 

“Do not worry,” Bokumon rumbled, “I did not lull you to sleep myself, nor influence your dreams when you did drift off.”

 

Red coloured her cheeks, and Reo looked away quickly; embarrassed that her distrust had been apparent.

 

“Sorry.” The mumbled apology was automatic, as much a system default as the distrust, but the Bakumon didn’t seem offended by the way the girl was functioning. Rather, there was a new look on his muzzle, on Reo didn’t recognised at all.

 

It was concern.

 

“Is there anything I can do to make your sleep more comfortable?”

 

‘ _Not be here,_ ’ Reo immediately scolded herself for her rudeness, glad that she’d could the thoughts before they’d formed into proper worlds.

 

“I’m… not sure there is anything you can do.” She said instead, and Bokumon seemed disheartened by this admission. “It’s not anything you’ve done, please, don’t—“ Reo babbled as quietly as she could, not sure what she was trying to prevent from happening. “— I just, I don’t think there’s anything you can do to help, it’s not something that can be fixed, I…“

 

“Everything can be fixed.” Bokumon’s low tone reappeared as the child trailed off, reassuring words calming the girl’s anxious spikes. “If you believe, anything can be achieved. Just know, if there is something I can do to make you more comfortable, or help, please let me know.”

 

The words were an echo of many sentiments which had been expressed to Reo before, but they seemed different than the rest— less empty, less void of substance. Whether that was an actuality or a sleep-ridden desperate wish of the heart, Reo really couldn’t tell anymore.

 

Everything was so weird right now that it might just be an actually.

 

If she was crying, Bokumon didn’t mention it.

 

~.~

 

“OH! MY! GOOOOOOD!” Okay, that was out loud. Calm down, Reo, calm down. You’re getting weird-ass looks. “He’s a proper puppy, holy shit, he’s a proper puppy!!!” Hand’s flapping wildly, the blonde did her best not to look too ridiculous next to everyone else who appeared to be stunned still in awe. Her chanting became a harsh whispered mantra. “I want to pet him, I want to pet him, I want to pet him, _fuck_.”

 

Fuck, hopefully Tommy was still too stunned to hear that.

 

And then Kouji appeared to loose all control of his beast spirit, and things took a turn for the worst. Reo dropped to a crouch, ducking behind some trees on the edge of the clearing as she watched the two digimon clashing- still shifting from foot to foot excitedly.

 

‘ _Fuck, I want to pat him so badly, oh my fucking god._ ’

 

~.~

 

“But, seriously, you have such a good figure!” Zoe and Reo walked behind the boy’s, a strategic move on their behalf. As the boy’s cleared a path through the dusty landscape, the girl’s pondered forth at a more leisurely pace without having to squint their eyes against the harsh environment around them. It had been Reo taking off her oversized bomber jacket to wrap it around her waist which had triggered the pair’s current conversation.

 

“Not really, have you seen my poor posture?” Reo shook her head at her fellow blonde, pocking at her stomach with a frown. “Seriously, it’s a trick of the eyes- my stomach is out, so my butt is out.”

 

Tommy didn’t understand why Takuya and Kouji’s ear’s began to turn red, nor why J.P. was beginning to slow down in pace.

 

“No way. Straighten up for me.” Zoe commanded. There was a pause, where Reo attempted to both follow the command and not slow down at the same time. “No, see, you’ve still got a huge butt. Plus, it’s your hips as well- seriously. So jealous!”

 

~.~

 

In the worst way possible, Reo was relieved Zoe had lost her spirit. It hurt her to even feel such a thing, let alone admit it— even if it was only to herself. Now she wasn’t the only useless one again. Every time Reo saw Zoe’s expression when she thought no one was looking, however, quickly erased that relief from her heart.

 

She couldn’t be relieved when someone looked that sad.

 

While the other’s bickered and argued over whether to go directly for Zoe’s spirit or head for the Forest Terminal instead, Reo leaned into Zoe, resting her head on the shoulder. The guy’s couldn’t see it, but the arguing wasn’t helping things in the least.

 

“Hey, do you believe in God?” Reo’s voice was little above a whisper, something quickly drowned out by the bickering males. Zoe still managed to catch it however, and gave a soft, disheartened shrug.

 

“I… I used to, before all this.” Green eyes didn’t lift from the lifeless d-tector screen. “But now…”

 

“How about fate; destiny?” Not giving up, Reo kept her voice at the same volume. Spirituality was something easily mocked, knowingly or otherwise, and that was the last thing either girl needed right now.

 

“Yeah, I guess so.” While the words were weak, there was a feeble strength still lingering behind them. For a girl who came looking for answers at the call of destiny, only to have her spirit snatch away, that meant a fair bit.

 

“Then if it’s destiny that you found your spirit, then it’s destiny that you’ll find it again.” The statement was firm, despite the low tone, and Reo could see the whitening of Zoe’s fingers as they gripped the d-tector harder. “This may be a test of faith, of resolve, but I’ll be dam-danged if you don’t kick it in the nuts.”

 

Leaning back, Reo stared Zoe down until, finally, green eyes turned to meet blue.

 

“You’ve got spirit, Zoe, even when you don’t have your spirit. And that is more magical than any mystical power in this world.”

 

A smile smile softly filtered across Zoe’s face in response to Reo’s wide, cracked grin. The first real smile since her spirit had been stolen.

 

“Yeah…”

 

“I guess _I’m_ the only one who wants to help Zoe!” The argument between the boy’s appeared to have reached a whole new level. The volume was practically defining. Determination flickered to life in Zoe’s eyes, and Reo drew back as her fellow blonde rose to her feet.

 

“Guys, forget it. Let’s just go to the Forest Terminal.”

 

“Don’t you start talking crazy too!” J.P. rounded on Zoe, ridiculously enough. Man, Reo was glad she kept their previous conversation hushed.

 

~.~

 

“Nah, man, I’m good thanks.” At Reo’s rejection, all five spirit warrior’s turned and looked wide eyed at her. Was it a culture difference she hadn’t caught on, but surely even while starving she would— “I’m sorry, it’s just that I’m allergic to noodles, I’m really sorry.” Reo bowed over and over again in apology.

 

Not a culture difference, then.

 

The offended expression on Deramon’s face faded to one of understanding, and he nodded. “Is there anything I can offer you instead?”

 

“Hmm,” Reo tapped her thumb against her chin in consideration. “I can probably eat anything that hasn’t touched the noodles or any bread. Do you have any pure broth?”

 

“That I can do!” Doramon’s expression lit up, and the bird digimon scurried off towards the kitchen.

 

“You’re allergic to noodles, Reo?” Zoe questioned, her expression concerned. Reo nodded, frowning slightly.

 

“Among other things, unfortunately— like bread. It’s fine when I’m at school, or doing my own cooking, but buying food out turns out to be difficult.” With a shrug, Reo turned her face to where dishes were clanging about in the kitchen. It was always nice when people were happy to accomodate her needs.

 

“I’ll say.” Zoe exclaimed. “Man, your parents must have a hard time making meals.”

 

“Yeah, is there anything you’re _not_ allergic too?” J.P. looked devastated, as though for the first time he realised how much allergies could have changed his life; _his food, man!_

 

“Not really, I don’t live with them after all.” Reo shrugged. Before anyone could reply to that, Doramon returned with a steaming bowl of mouth watering froth. Her heart lifted in her chest, joy filling her at the sight of _edible food_ for the first time in ages.

 

Now she knew why the other’s had looked so stunned earlier. This was amazing; food!!

 

“Thank you for the meal!” It had been so nice of everyone to wait for her too! Happiness in her heart, Reo raised the spoon of broth to her mouth.

 

Reo’s first thought was, hey, drinking broth with piercings was easier than eating with piercings on. Her second thought was, hey, this thing’s _really_ salty. Thirdly, everyone else’s expression is _hilarious_.

 

“Wow, guys, the noodles not up to standard or something?” Reo grinned, taking another sip of the broth, taking extra care to make slurping noises with her sip. The extra ingredients may not be up to standard, but this nutritious (and salty) water was better than no food at all. The sarcastic/respectful noise of her slurping made a beautiful soundtrack to the dead expressions which turned to face her in a row.

 

Priceless.

 

~.~

 

“Why am I here?” Reo felt her voice crack, the pressure of the situation finally breaking through her laugh-for-the-moment attitude.

 

“Reo?” Concern laced the question, but the speaker fell silent as Seraphimon turned towards the spiritless child with a sad air.

 

“Everyone else has their spirit- heck, Takuya and Kouji have _both_ of their spirit forms.” Hands shaking, Reo’s fingers curled into fists by her side, blue eyes solidly fixed on the ground beneath her sneakers. The uselessness of her situation finally broke through to the surface, eyes beginning to sting. “Why am I here?”

 

“Ophanimon, Cherubimon, and myself were entrusted with the spirits of the Legendary Warriors.” Seraphimon reiterated, and Reo began to scrunch up her nose in frustration. The angel digimon continued, however, quickly capturing her attention. “While the spirits of your companions and yourself were entrusted to Ophanimon and myself, three of the spirits were entrusted to Cherubimon. When Cherubimon turned on the pair of us, he managed to steal two of the spirits within my possession.”

 

‘ _Fuck._ ’

 

“One of those spirits was your own.” Seraphimon’s words hung heavy to the group’s ears, and Reo could feel the pitying gaze on her backs. What did this mean- was her spirit lying around hidden somewhere, like Zoe’s and Kouji’s, or…

 

“Does that mean another digimon is possessing my spirit, like Grumblemon?”

 

Before Seraphimon could answer, everything suddenly kicked into action.

 

~.~

 

“Why’d you bring your clothes out here?” At Takuya’s shouted question, Reo glanced down at the basket in her hands before shrugging awkwardly.

 

“Old habits die hard, I guess?” The boy shrugged, turning around and taking the opportunity to splash J.P. right in the mouth, the older boy having stopped to gape at the blonde in a bikini. With a towel wrapped around her waist, Reo didn’t think she looked that exposed, but then she did always hear boy’s would take what they could get.

 

If Kouji’s red face also got hit with chilled water in the side splash no one was the wiser.

 

Reo frowned down at the basket in her hands. After her roommate had dowsed her recently cleaned clothes in all of her washing detergent, Reo had made a note not to leave anything she treasured alone if she could. With so little in her possession at the moment, it had been a natural instinct to bring all her clothes out of the changing rooms with her. Not that she didn’t trust Zoe, but… she didn’t trust her ability to trust anymore. The fact that her clothes now had glowing patches underneath fluorescent lighting had been a nice(?) surprise to come out of the unfortunate incident.

 

Always look at the positives, she supposed. At least her new jacket didn’t glow in the dark. Yet.

 

Feeling less bad about her apparent distrust of her companions now that she could place the blame on herself, Reo placed the basket under the umbrella next to Bokumon. She also gave Neemon a soft pat on the head as she passed, grinning at his soft sand cocoon; it looked really comfy actually.

 

It was just as the water reached her ankles that Zoe’s shrill shriek echoed across the beach.

 

~.~

 

When Ranamon appeared in front of them, the d-tector in Reo’s pocket vibrated. The intense movement startled the blonde’s gaze from the enemy before them to the screen lighting up in her palm. Slowly, a harsh smirk crossed across her mouth, and hysterical giggles brought her panicked companion’s gaze to her.

 

“That one’s _mine_.” Blue eyes rose to gaze hungrily at the winking digimon. “That spirit’s _mine_.” Uselessness would evade Reo no more. Why it hadn’t vibrated at Seraphimon’s palace didn’t occur to her— though when she considered it later she’d come to the conclusion that she was too distracted by the chaos around her in the moment to notice the buzzing device in her pocket. Instead, only the obsession to be helpful, meaningful, remained.

 

Reo would prove her worth.

 

(Uselessness evaded her)

 

~.~

 

“Reo, are you—“

 

“Takuya, cover Tommy’s ears.”

 

“Reo, se-“

 

“Cover. Tommy’s. Ears.” The ’s’s were hissed out, lava fury bubbling within the blonde’s lungs as she glared at the spot Calmaramon had disappeared to in the sky.

 

Silently, an intimidated Takuya slid his hands over the third grader’s ears.

 

“FOR _FUCK’S_ SAKE!!” The sound bounced across the ocean’s surface, and everyone— even the beast spirit evolved Zoe— flinched back from the furious girl. “WHY!” A foot slammed viscously down on the wooden planks of the boat, emphasising every word with a loud ’thwack’. “WHY! AM! I! STILL! FUCKING! USELESS! WHAT! THE! _FUCK_!!!”

 

Heavy breath’s heaved through Reo’s lungs, and her glare finally shifted down to the water, where the Gomamon were also flinching away. Her teammates where literally at the edges of the raft by now, Takuya keeping his hands over Tommy’s ears even as he kept balance for the both of them.

 

“Shitting dicks on a cactus, Ranamon can go fuck herself on a cactus for all I care, fucking asshole, I bet that’d make you give up your spirits, fucking shit fuck shit.” The volume slowly trailed off to a mutter as Reo clenched her fists, then flapped her hands for a bit, then clenched her fists again. Hissing, the girl let out her final rage filled words.

 

“I’ll get you, just you wait.”

 

A deep, rattling breath in, and a harsh puff of air out, and Reo straightened up. Sighing, she waved a single hand in Takuya’s direction.

 

“I’m done now, you can uncover his ears.” Takuya seemed almost hesitant to follow the command, and Tommy’s eyes were still open wide when he was finally able to hear again.

 

“Are you okay, Reo?” Guilt finally covered the anger as Tommy’s shaky voice. With another sigh, Reo flopped into a sitting position at the edge of the boat, crossing her legs under her weight as she dragged a hand through the water below.

 

“Yeah, sorry, Tommy.” The low, resigned rumble was almost inaudible when compared to the screaming rage which it followed. “I just… I was so close to being able to _help_.” Zoe landed on the raft, devolving as the others slowly shifted back towards the centre of their makeshift boat. “I would have been _useful_.”

 

“You are useful, Reo.” There was a hand on her shoulder, and Zoe sat down beside the disheartened girl. “I know you don’t have a spirit, but you keep _our_ spirits up when we need you.”

 

“Yeah,” Tommy chimed in from somewhere behind them. “You have a lot of good knowledge too.”

 

“Between you and Bokomon,” J.P. snorted in amusement. “We’re almost never without an idea of what we’re facing, now or in the future.”

 

“You’re smart.” Kouji sounded almost reluctant to admit it, but the brutal honesty his words always possessed weighed the compliment heavily. “You’re good at survival— especially ensuring other’s survival.” There was a pause, and then he continued, and Reo’s cheeks began to stain red. “You’re a valued member of our team.”

 

“We wouldn’t be a team without you.” Takuya agreed. “Without or without your spirit— but we’ll get you that spirit, buddy. Just you wait and see!” His hand formed a fist, which he pumped in front of him. Reo felt like crying, and something finally clicked into place. She’d asked for help; now it was up to them. Her survival was in their hands.

 

She trusted them.

 

“You know,” J.P.’s voice broke the silence, “I wasn’t sure before, but I can definitely see how you and Ranamon share a spirit. You both have a terrifyingly _scary_ side.”

 

“J.P.!!” Zoe whacked the boy over the head, but the comment had had it’s effect. Soon enough, the entire boat was cracked up in laughter, the surrounding Gomamon included.

 

Yeah, Reo trusted them.

 

~.~

 

‘ _What the fuck— have they never cooked at all?_ ’ Reo felt horrified as she watched the insane idiots that were Kouji and Takuya run around the kitchen, grabbing everything and anything that was in sight. Did most schools not hold a cooking class— was that a ladies boarding school thing only?

 

A TorikaraBallmon flapped down, landing atop of Reo’s head as she added a pair of apples to her collection tray.

 

“Have any of you actually cooked before?” The high pitched concern was a little harsh on her ears, but Reo did her best to smile reassuringly up at the baby digimon regardless.

 

“To be honest, I’m not sure if any of the others have— although Takuya (the taller capped guy) and Kouji (the guy with the bandana) certainly haven’t.” The small brown ball seemed to wilt at this, and Reo quickly proceeded to reassurance mode. “I’ve taken a couple of cooking lessons, though, and while I may not be the best at more complex recipes, I make a mean grilled cheese sandwich!”

 

“Ahh, maybe there’s some hope after all!” Ballmon’s comment was a bit doubtful still, but Reo felt she’d at least made the small digimon feel a little better. The blonde grabbed a bit of minced meat that looked like beef, along with a single onion and some green, powdered herbs.“What are you going to do for your burger, then?”

 

“Well, I haven’t made a burger in class yet,” Reo annotated, frowning slightly as she grabbed the burger buns; looked like she wouldn’t be getting a chance to taste test the final product. “But we have made some apple beef patties in class, and I figured that, since I know what those taste like and how to make them, I could probably make a new burger with that. Have you guys ever tried making something similar?”

 

It would be important to know what the Burgermon had experimented with— and presented to Petadramon— already, if she wanted to give them something new.

 

“Hmmm,” Ballmon recalled what little it’s memory contained. “I think papa did make something like that once.” Damn, then that wasn’t a good choice. Reo let out a soft ‘tsk’ and frowned, tugging softly at her lip ring.

 

“Dang, okay, uh…” What else had she made in class? Super spuds had been cool, and they’d made quiches— “What about an egg and bacon burger, but with scrambled egg?”

 

“Nope, we’ve definitely never done that before.” Ballmon sounded vaguely disgusted to be honest, and when Reo had first heard what was actually in quiches she’d been pretty disgusted too. Still, it always turned out much better than it sounded.

 

“Awesome, then I’ll give that a shot.” Now, to make a quiche into a burger. With a worried noise and a soft flap of their wings, the baby Ballmon flapped over to join their siblings. Reo just hoped that her final product would turn out better than her young, brown friend feared.

 

~.~

 

“Why are you here, sugar?” Ranamon sounded indignant, and the water warrior was— Sakkakumon had promised her a one-on-one battle with the stupid girl in possession of the spirit of wind. Not the lazing, spiritless girl currently splashing her feet in the surface of the lake. Remembering the Honeybeemon currently trapping her arch-nemesis, however, Ranamon concluded that Mercurymon must have _known_ that she would beat the stupid Kazemon easily.

 

So he gave her an easy target as a plaything until the real fight began.

 

“Hmm, oh, hi Ranamon.” The spiritless human didn’t seem scared of her at all. Too stupid to be sensible, Ranamon supposed. “I don’t suppose you know where we are?”

 

Reo was terrified.

 

It was like being back at boarding school again; useless, defenceless, and friendless. Blue eyes carefully tracked Ranamon’s reflection in their peripheral vision, the teen carefully making her eyes look glazed over as she centred her face on the opposite bank’s trees. The gentle kicks were enough to distill her own reflection with their concentration without blocking her own view of her surroundings; it was a trick she’d quickly learned after a session at the school’s pool.

 

“Why, hun, you’re trapped with nowhere to run, of course~!” The statement, emphasised with a wink, told Reo nothing she didn’t already know. The lip piercings kept her from biting her lip, a usual instinct of unease— the purpose they’d originally been bought for.

 

“Huh, well there you go.” Casual tones, active mind. “You wouldn’t happen to have a spare bathing suit would you— it’s a lovely day for a swim.” How much control did Ranamon have over the world around them?

 

“Sorry, sugar, but you won’t be needing it soon.” Ranamon giggled, as she advanced behind Reo. Faking a yawn, Reo stretched her arms up wide, before falling back to lie on the ground behind her. Now she couldn’t disguise her watching of the warrior of water.

 

But it looked like she wouldn’t be needing too.

 

“Well, now.” Something on the opposite shore caught Ranamon’s attention, and the classic dark scowl quickly grew on her face. “Look’s like you’ll get to wait just a little bit longer. I have something to deal with first.” And with that, the predator turned on her heel and stomped out of sight.

 

As soon as the short female was gone, Reo leaped to her feet, glancing around for the problem which had distracted Ranamon

 

“Zoe.” The name was little more than a whisper, but Reo took of running, dashing around the grassy banks towards the pink figure in the distance. She had to let the girl know the danger she was in— that they were in. There was a swam of yellow monsters surrounding Zoe, handing her food of unknown origin— it was probably poisoned, fuck. Ranamon did have a way of manipulating the digimon around her, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

 

God, running was much more exhausting than walking. She couldn’t even scream out Zoe’s name, not even as she watched Ranamon handing one of the stray, yellow monsters a rosy, red apple.

 

No, she just had to get there faster.

 

“I have friends.”

 

Faster.

 

“Please, they’re just pretending sugar. When you’re not around they say all sorts of bad things about you.”

 

She had to be faster—

 

“That’s not true… is it?”

 

Zoe looked exhausted, standing up to face Ranamon. Dark circles were as low as her tone, soft and rounded and _deep_.

 

“My friends wouldn’t be that mean… but then again, how could I be sure—”

 

“ZOE!” Reo seemed to almost flash past Ranamon, and the green and blue digimon seemed stunned to silence, unable to react as the human flew by. Reo flung both herself and Zoe to the ground, the Australian clinging to the Italian as she sobbed, tears streaming down her face. When had she started crying?

 

“Zoe, I’m here, we’re all here.” Ranamon looked disgusted at this point, almost like she wanted to puke. “I thought I was alone, but you were here, we’re not trapped, we’re together, I know I’m useless—“ She knew she was babbling.

 

“Reo, oh god, Reo.” Zoe’s dark circles faded away as reality crashed into her, and the two blondes clung to each other. Ranamon making gagging motions behind her, however, drew Zoe’s attention to her— and to the fiery determination lighting up in her gut. Her tone tightened, demanding her friend’s attention. “Reo.”

 

“Wha-“ Blurry eyed, Reo glanced up.

 

“I’m going to get your spirit.” Fire burned a toxic green, ready to take all in it’s path. “And we’re going to be a team, together.”

 

~.~

 

“PLASMA PUNCH!” With that final attack, the fractal code finally appeared around Calmaramon, and Zephyrmon retreated, landing next to Reo as her d-tector lit up.

 

“It is time.”

 

‘ _You’re damn right it is._ ’ The grin on her face was so wide it hurt, but Reo didn’t break it’s path as she stepped forward, blue and pink d-tector leading the way. Slowly, almost painstakingly so, the spirits lead the chain of data into device, and then— with a final swooping motion— everything changed.

 

“Execute.” The world around her was blue, and a ring of teal and blue swirled around Reo’s hand. The words and motions felt instinctual, from the cry of determination to the way she swiped her hands down in front of her in a cross motion, the d-tector scanning the code spiralling around her limbs.

 

“Spirit Evolution!”

 

The world bubbled around her, and the ground disappeared from beneath her feet. Ears popped as the depth chained around her, air bubbles popping against her skin. She could feel her fingers webbing, but a large air bubble fastening itself around her waist— followed by another to her chest— distracted her from the unknown feeling.

 

Suddenly, the ground was beneath her feet, and with a twirl and a giggle, Reo— no, Amemon tapped her finger against the casing around her head and flourished her call with a wink.

 

“Amemon~!”

 

Zoe had de-digivolved at some point, but awe and joy was the only thing painted across her face as she took her friend in.

 

A bouncing, translucent, purple skirt circled Amemon’s waist; it was not dissimilar to a jellyfish in design, especially with glowing, pink orbs which were dangled from the hems. Footless stockings and handless, long-sleeved gloves covered the teal-skinned digimon’s limbs. The light blue material was held up by dark blue straps that attached them to the bodice of a similar colouring; said bodice was also held up by the same dark blue straps, which formed a colour around the water warrior’s neck. The bodice consisted of high waisted bikini bottoms, and a floaty purple top with puffed up circle sleeves, which also had a ring of glowing, pink orbs attached to it.

 

Finally, a shelled helmet circled Amemon’s head, a kind smile resting underneath the lilac glass which covered the water warrior’s eyes. An enormous, glowing, pink orb sat in the very centre in the top of the helmet, potentially a source of power for the jellyfish-like Legendary Warrior.

 

“Oh, Amemon, you look so beautiful.”

 

Amemon curtseyed at Zoe’s comment, but the smile turned into a smirk.

 

“Why, I would hope so. I only waited so long for this to happen~!” Amemon’s voice was higher pitched than Reo’s, perhaps closer to what Ranamon’s voice had been, though it lacked the heavy accent the corrupted spirit of water had possessed. The digimon stretched her arms out in front of her, seemingly unaware of the Honeybeemon watching on the scene with awe. “I gotta say, though, these webbed paws are _unexpected_.”

 

“Speaking of paws, what about your beast evolution.” As Zoe asked, a red eyeball appeared behind the Italian girl, causing Amemon to raise her non-existent eyebrows.

 

“It’s here, and as much as I’d love to find out what it looks like, I think our exit is here.”

 

“We’ll carry you down, Zoe!” The Honeybeemon cheered, and Amemon pulled a thoughtful pout.

 

“I don’t think you’ll be able to manage the two of us, no offence.”

 

~.~

 

‘ _Why.’_ Reo wanted to cry. ‘ _Why today?_ ’

 

It had been a beautiful day— she and J.P had skipped their last lectures of the semester to attend the rest of the warrior’s graduation ceremony. Takuya had dipped Zoe into an over-dramatic kiss as he leaped off of the stage, Tommy covering his face with an embarrassed groan from his seat next to Reo. J.P., on the other hand, had cheered on the pair with a loud ‘whoo!’. Kouji and Kouichi had been significantly more dignified with their acceptance of their proof of education, though every one of the warriors would by lying if they didn’t blink back tears with the twins

 

And yet, here they were. Kouji’s eyes were fixed intensely on Reo’s face, watching as the older girl reacted to the twin’s declaration. Meanwhile, Kouichi seemed to be looking everywhere but her face, a dark blush staining his cheeks.

 

They were both still in their graduation clothes.

 

“I—“ Halfway through the first syllable, Reo’s voice cracked. Swallowing heavily, she took a deep breath.

 

Tried again.

 

“I can’t—“ Okay, now she was crying. Now it was Kouji’s turn to look away, glaring down at his shoes, steeling himself for the rejection he’d been slowly learning to not expect. God, she was going to ruin everything, wasn’t she.

 

There was a reassuring hand on her face, and suddenly Kouichi was _right there_ , brushing away the salt running down her cheeks.

 

“Reo, you don’t have to—“

 

“No!” The words almost blurred together, as she pushed forward to interrupt the kind-hearted boy (too kind, how had he survived until now— right, he almost hadn’t). “No, I have to say this.”

 

Nodding, Kouichi pulled his hand back, though it still hovered close, reassuring without crowding.

 

“I can’t choose between you.” Kouji’s frustrated growl echoed around the deserted school hall, but Reo continued, gaining steam as her words continued to roll. “I can’t choose between you, because I love you both too much. If I chose one of you, I’d ruin my relationship with both of you because, _god_ , I’d feel so guilty the entire time. Guilt can _ruin_ relationships, I’ve _seen it_ , and it ruins _me_. I can’t choose one of you without feeling pain for the other, I can’t choose both of you because, _god,_ that’d be _fucking_ _selfish_ of me, and I just—“

 

A thick, snotty sob broke through her words, crashing the freight train which had been coursing through her brain. Her leg’s were wobbling, trembling, and she hadn’t felt this weak since before the digital world, since she’d been curled up in the cupboard of her shared dormitory room, praying to every deity she knew that her roommate wouldn’t find her.

 

“I can’t— I can’t choose either of you, because I love _both of you— god_ , I love you both _so much_ —, so I can’t accept either of you.” The shaking was full body; she’d hoped it’d never come to this. Why did they have to choose today— their graduation day would be a spoiled day, a ruined day.

 

Not as ruined as it would been if she’d chosen one over the other.

 

That thought didn’t do anything to console her.

 

“I’m sorry.” The whisper barely reached the boy’s ears, the chains on the words broken at that first surrender of will; she dissolved. The mantra of boarding school returned. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m—“

 

It echoed down the hall, only interrupted by soft choking sobs.

 

Kouji looked as if he was constipated, glaring out the window, and then turning to look at her, and then glaring out the window again. Kouichi’s face was worse; it was understanding. Pained, bittersweet understanding.

 

She couldn’t take it anymore.

 

One step, then two, and then she was gone, hurriedly retreating down the unfamiliar halls. Left, right, left again— anywhere that wasn’t where _they_ were. A sign caught her eyes, and she fled, disappearing into the bathrooms.

 

‘ _God, why did it have to be today?_ ’

 

~.~

 

“Hey, you coming to the party tonight?” Zoe’s voice crackled through the phone’s speaker. Adjusting her wig of the day, Reo took in her appearance in the mirror. Make up continued to be a gift from the Gods for a bad mood; while her blue eyes could still be considered a little shiny, all other signs of the day’s previous conflict had disappeared from sight.

 

“I think so,” Reo started, but Zoe quickly interrupted.

 

“Think so? Reo, we’ve been planning this celebration for _ages_. It’ll just be us warriors, a chance to relax!” Concern still managed to travel down the wires, colouring Zoe’s voice through the line. “What happened this afternoon— why did you disappear?”

 

Finally content with the auburn hairline’s placement, Reo turned her attention to the accessories spread out on the table in front of her, contemplating how to respond to Zoe. Dig for information without giving anything away.

 

“What do you mean?” Retail had to have helped her with this, if nothing else? “I went to go to the bathroom, but, well—“ Sheepish tones, Reo. Sheepish. “—you know my sense of direction, I got lost.”

 

“Really?” Zoe didn’t buy it one bit. “There were bathrooms _right_ outside the hall, not to mention Kouji and Kouichi disappeared with you.” There was a pause, and Reo prayed for success as she adjusted a small array of colourful clips to seperate the bangs from the rest of the wig’s hair. “When they came back, Kouji refused to say anything more than a grunt and, I swear to all that is holy, I think Kouichi was going to burst into tears at any moment.”

 

Yes, information.

 

Just not anything she wanted to hear. The guilty bubble in her chest welled at Zoe’s words, and Reo had to blink rapidly to prevent herself from crying anymore; redoing make up this precise was a doozy.

 

“What can I say, Zo; I’m a lot sheep in the desert.” If Reo’s laugh was a bit bitter and broken, Zoe noticed immediately.

 

“Reo.” Hmm, that clip wasn’t quite properly positioned. Actually, it didn’t go with the outfit at all; Reo took it off and replaced it. “I…” Zoe seemed lost at what to say, and Reo understood why.

 

If she went, she _was_ going to make the evening uncomfortable for herself, Kouji, Kouichi (and now Zoe too) and _possibly_ making it uncomfortable for everyone else too. But if she didn’t go, and especially if the twins didn’t go as well, she would definitely ruin the evening for everyone. Including herself.

 

“Don’t worry, Zoe.” Reo spoke up, dropping her hands as she took in the reflection before her. Finished. “I’m going, I just… I’m going. It’s fine.”

 

“If you say so.” Zoe seemed reluctant to discourage her from going, while also wanting to appease her friend’s fears. “If you need anything during the night, if I can help at all…”

 

“I’ll let you know, I promise.” Grabbing the phone, Reo glanced around her home. Where was that bag of hers…? “Look, I’m on my way over now. Don’t stress too much— that’s my job.”

 

“You’re right it is.” Zoe mumbled, but followed up with a sigh of defeat. “Alright, I’ll see you soon.”

 

“See ya.”

 

~.~

 

“Congratulations!” Reo cheered as she entered J.P.’s apartment, ducking beneath the streamersstrung across the door. While Reo had managed to afford a single room apartment on her salary, J.P. had elected to share a house with several other kids attending his university. None of the digidestined had moved from Shibuya (though it had taken a lot of sweet talking to her parents, on Reo’s behalf), reluctant to leave the city in case Ophanimon ever needed them once more.

 

“Reo!” Tommy cheered, now a lanky teen of sixteen, barrelling through the doorway to hug his friend. “You changed your wig again!”

 

“Yup,” Reo winked dramatically. “I figured I’d give the graduated kids a fresh appearance to stare at~!”

 

“You look the same as always to me, buddy!” Takuya’s comment from further in the house caused Tommy to burst into laughter, and Reo couldn’t help but giggle along as well. Between her constantly changing piercings and wigs, with glasses coming on and off, Reo’s fellow digidestined had learned to identify the girl by her mannerism and solid blue eyes alone.

 

“So, J.P.,” Reo grinned, patting the buff twenty year old on the shoulder as he closed the door behind her. “What did you promise your roommates to get the house all to ourselves tonight?”

 

“A whole lotta cleaning of underwear, not to mention TV rights for a month.” Though there was a scowl on his face, J.P.’s eyes sparkled with amusement, lightening the statement. “So you’d all better damn well enjoy it.”

 

“J.P., language!”

 

“Takuya, I’m _sixteen_.” Tommy whined as he darted back down the hall, snatching the playstation remote from the lounging hat-head’s hands. “Now let me have a go!”

 

“Mother hen-ing, much, Takuya?” Reo commented, brushing her hair back over her shoulder as she wondered further into the house. Takuya wasn’t, remarkably enough, wearing his signature cap today; instead his spiky head of hair was running wild, flattening into an absolute pigsty when the boy tilted his head back to meet Reo’s eyes as she approached. “Besides, both of you should be turning that off soon— Zoe’s on her way.”

 

Eyes widening, the pair quickly scrambled to turn the playstation off; they’d all sat through enough of Zoe’s rant’s about games being ‘unsociable’ to know when to draw their losses. Reo had heard through J.P. that Zoe had only developed such a vendetta for the medium after Takuya had decided that a gaming session was an acceptable surprise date idea.

 

Man, sometimes the fire digidestioned was a real thickhead.

 

“So where’d you disappear too—“

 

“Heya everyone!” Zoe’s timing was a saving grace and a half; hopefully all this good karma wouldn’t come back to bite Reo later. The woman held in a sigh of relief as Zoe entered the lounge, hair pulled beautifully. Green eyes flicked over the blue with a brief flash of concern, before the Italian shifted over to kiss her boyfriend on the forehead. “Hey, Takky, good to see you’re celebrating with something other than games.”

 

The fact that Zoe didn’t react to everyone else in the room giggling told Reo everything she needed to know. The two girls exchanged another knowing look, this one far less heavy than the previous one, and Reo shrugged with a notable grin.

 

“So, who are we waiting on?” Zoe’s question seemed innocent enough. Reo turned around and faced the kitchen, pretending to examine the food laid out on the counter. It was all as they’d planned, ordered pizza and large bottles of different flavoured fizzy drinks. They’d all put in a few yen towards the dinner.

 

“Just the twins.” Takuya’s tone indicated an lack of awareness to the issue, but Reo didn’t have the courage to turn around and confirm it. She couldn’t just stand here staring at the kitchen, though.

 

“Hey, J.P.,” Reo didn’t look the brunette in the eyes as she threw her question out. “Is there somewhere I can place my bag and shit?”

 

“Reo!”

 

“Sure,” Both adults ignored Takuya’s indignation (and Zoe’s follow up scolding and Tommy’s complaints), J.P. pointed Reo to the furthest door on the left. “That’s your room tonight if you want it.”

 

“You did make sure everyone changed their sheets and stuff, right?”

 

“Cross my heart,” J.P. promised, and then finished with a mutter. “I had to wash them myself.”

 

The original plan had been to stay over night, but Reo didn’t know if she’d make it through the night or not. Depended on how tense it got, she may just go home without her bag; she’d text J.P. to retrieve it if that happened. Shutting the door behind her, Reo glanced around the room after dropping her bag on the badly made bed. At least she’d have somewhere to retreat too, if nothing else.

 

Hopefully.

 

Taking another reassuring glance at her reflection in the mirror on the wardrobe door, Reo left the room behind, turning back to the lounge room-kitchen area.

 

“How much longer are we going to have to wait?” Takuya whined, slumping backwards over the couch’s arm, and causing Zoe to blush brightly from where she sat on his lap. Reo caught a quick glance at his smirk and Tommy’s questioning head tilt directed at Zoe before her attention was drawn away.

 

“Find it okay?” J.P. looked concerned, and Reo felt a little affronted; her sense of direction wasn’t _that_ bad. Okay, so she _had_ gotten lost in his house before, but she’d made a mini-map and logic-ed it out herself since then.

 

“Yeah.” She took a seat at the island next to him, thankful she’d selected high waisted pants for under her shirt. Chairs with no backs— or stools, as most people knew them— were the butt-crack devils. “You got them all to clean up pretty well.”

 

“Hey, nothing less than best for my main girls.” J.P.’s flirting was little more than an inside joke at this point; a running gag of the group. When he started flirting with Reo, something he hadn’t done even back in the digital world, most of the group caught on pretty quickly. Thinking about it now, the fact that it had taken Kouji and Kouichi the longest to catch on made a bit more sense now.

 

That soared her slowly rising mood a little.

 

“You sure you’re okay, though.” J.P.’s question caused Reo to flinch; great, another person’s evening ruined by the upcoming tension. Not even the succulent scent of warm pizza could soften the edge to that blow.

 

“It’s fine,” Reo sighed, and her tongue fiddled with her piercings restlessly. “I just—“

 

The door to the apartment opened, and Takuya let out a loud ‘ _Finally!!_ ’ as Kouji appeared from down the hall; a soft click of the front door shutting, and Kouichi appeared behind his twin, a soft smile and wave already going.

 

“Hey guys, sorry we’re late.” Reo twirled a strand of hair, giving the piercings one final flick with her tongue, before gathering her courage and rising her eyes to watch the scene play out. Kouichi’s apology seemed genuine, the sheepish smile on his face entirely positive in manner.

 

“Yeah, hi.” Okay, Kouji’s acting was less passable, but he often had days where he was more standoffish than others.

 

Graduation day shouldn’t have been one of those, though.

 

“Geez, who stepped in your breakfast?” Takuya questioned. With a huge sigh, Kouji seemed to shrug off the negatives.

 

“Eh, no one who didn’t shit in yours.” Reo couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face as Takuya recoiled and began to bicker back. That pair always seemed to bounce well off one another, bringing a positive out of the heavy clash of personalities. Tommy’s grin reflected Reo’s own, and J.P. rose from his spot from beside her to go and join the hustle and bustle.

 

Takuya shifted positions, lifting his feet from the couch to make room for Kouji. Zoe also shifted over on his lap, moving until she was half on the arm of the chair as well. Kouichi seemed to lean against his brother momentarily, reassuringly as there was a pause in the flying banter, before Kouji huffed in annoyance and took a seat next to the couple on the couple.

 

“Shuffle over, ice boy.” J.P. huffed, and Tommy laughed before climbing onto the arm of his own chair, giving J.P. the seat.

 

“I think I’ll stick here with the pizza.” Reo murmured to herself, leaning further over the bench until her chin was resting on her crossed arms. The scent of pizza was so close, and yet she had to wait until it was ’socially acceptable’ to dig in. The pout that formed on her lips was practically inevitable. 

 

“Now there’s a cute face if I’ve ever seen one.” Red covered Reo’s cheeks at Kouichi’s comment, and she covered her face as he slid into J.P.’s empty seat. “I wasn’t sure you’d show up tonight.” Was that tone… apologetic?

 

“Neither,” Reo admitted with a shaky breath. Slowly she withdrew her hands, watching the warriors play in front of her. Kouji and Takuya were laughing now, and Zoe was shaking her head, while J.P. reluctantly handed some yen over to Tommy. “I’m… sorry that I hurt your feelings.”

 

“Hey, we all have feelings involved in this.” Kouichi chided her, and he continued on, teasing her. “Do we need to teach you that again?”

 

“No, but my feelings right now are something I don’t really want to think too deeply about.” The admittance was little more than a whisper, but Kouichi hummed in consideration at it.

 

“But they’re something _we_ want to think about.” Reo really hoped the group on the couch couldn’t hear them. She caught Kouji taking a glance back; he, at least, was aware of the exchange at hand. Takuya, however, was still completely oblivious. The pizza was growing cold; maybe she should turn the oven on? “We completely disregarded them earlier— we put you on the spot, despite already knowing that you liked both of us.”

 

“Then why did you do it?” Though she could feel her face heating up— she’d known she was bad at hiding her feelings, she’d still hoped they hadn’t known until that day—, the question still came out strong. “Why did you put me in that situation?”

 

“Because we were cowardly.” Kouichi nodded at his brother, and Kouji gave a weak smile, turning back to the ranting Takuya. “We didn’t want to take something from the other, so we shifted that power into your hands.”

 

A pause, but… it wasn’t tense, so much as apologetic.

 

“We hurt in, and we’re sorry.” Kouichi continued, as Reo refused to reply. “If you’ll listen to us, we have one more offer for you.”

 

“Did you talk with Kouji about this?” Reo didn’t know what they were offering, but this was a serious thing— relationships were. They all had to be on the same page.

 

“Yes.” Kouichi’s response was immediate, and honest. “We’ve come to an agreement.”

 

J.P. caught her eye briefly, and looked away quickly. Sighing, Reo rose, stretching her arms out as she felt her back crack.

 

~.~

 

“Hey, can I get you anything else?” Reo really wasn’t in the mood to play to the social rules, not even to appease the cashier in her cheery attitude she was paid to maintain. Still, the blonde managed to force a smile as she placed the instant noodle cups on the corner store’s counter.

 

“No, I’m good, thanks.” Blue eyes kept their position on the display as the yen added up. The grin and glint in the cashier’s eyes didn’t draw her attention at all.

 

“Are you sure about that?” The tone rang warning bells, but Reo couldn’t care less for her survival instincts today. It was a bad day, a sleepy day.

 

“Yes, thank you.” Societal manners still firmly in place, the ex-warrior reached into her purse to pull out her debit card. Hello Kitty stared up at her with expressionless eyes as she swiped it with a quiet ‘beep’.

 

“That’s a shame,” Now the alarm bells were blaring, red lights flashing erratically. “Since I need something from you.”

 

Reo caught green eyes flashing purple before there was a spike of pain at the back of her head, and everything faded to black.

 

~.~

 

“Hey, Ranamon.” It was a hallucination, or a dream, Reo felt. The breeze was salty, and the ocean water cold, as the young woman dipped her feet in the ripping rock pools. The previous incarnation of the spirit of water was seated beside Reo, but her green feet weren’t touching the water. Rather, Ranamon had sucked them underneath herself, sitting in a rather traditional manner as she watched the waves lap away as the rocky, pebbled shore.

 

As they watched a particularly harsh gust of wind galloped by, pushing aside murky purple clouds to reveal the trio of moons lighting the land below.

 

“I never expected to see you again, sugar.” Wow, Reo had not missed the accent. It’s hard bite kind of spoiled the beautiful landscape before her, to be honest. Why did she dream up Ranamon again? Here she could have been having a good, sexy dream to escape her guilt for a bit, but nooooo.

 

She wasn’t about to get it on with Ranamon either, ew.

 

“Neither.” A fish jumped in the distance, nipping at a low, hovering fly. Digimon and animals in a world together; definitely fictional. “Why are you here?”

 

“We’re coming together once more, unfortunately.” Strangely enough, Ranamon didn’t sound that upset. Reaching forward, the warrior scooped a shell out of the water and held it to her finned ears; Reo could hear the ocean waves lapping through the echoing chambers. “All of the warriors will be returning once more, if we want the world to live.”

 

“Please tell me Lucemon’s not rising again.” Reo scowled, now tracing letters into the sand of the rock pool with her big toe. She couldn’t read any of them, but the sand felt gritty and uncomfortable as if it were dry rather than wet. “I am so not up for dealing with that shit again.”

 

“I wish it was only Lucemon, sweety.” Ranamon laughed, slowly rising to her feet. Her feet weren’t webbed like Amemon’s were, but then Amemon didn’t have webbed ears, so Reo guessed they were even.

 

“Wonderful.”

 

“Sarcasm isn’t attractive, darlin’.” Ranamon winked, before stretching back to chuck the shell across the ocean. It bounced across the surface.

 

“You’re one to talk.” Reo scowled. “Did you have something important to tell me?”

 

Finally the pair of water warriors faced one another, red meeting blue as the girls stared one another down.

 

“Only a warning, sugar.” Ranamon’s tone was different than her usual high pitched whine. “You’re captive at the moment, but if you get free, find your immature friends.” The digimon shook her head, and her legs began to fade out of view. “None of you stand a chance if you stand alone.”

 

Then she was gone, and the waves had overrun the rock pools; lapping up Reo, licking up her legs, tugging down her waist, and clogging up her mouth. It twirled and twisted her, playing with the woman like a toy in it’s dollhouse.

 

Drowning her.

 

~.~

 


End file.
